The Outbreak
by Swalker2000
Summary: After multiple reports of deaths and disappearances, Gru and Lucy are sent to Portugal to take down a large and dangerous cult, ran by one of the most mysterious men alive. In their absence, Dru takes over and looks after the girls, trying to keep their spirits high in quite a fearful time. However, things soon take a turn, and a huge dark secret is revealed to the world...
1. The Last Chance

_**Despicable Me:**_ **The Outbreak**

 _So, this was a story that I posted about five months ago that I mentioned was pretty ambitious and crazy. But, after I started Down The Bloodline 3, I lost interest in the plotline and honestly never thought I was going to complete it, so I deleted it to avoid an abandoned story._

 _But, I've decided to give it another go. Down The Bloodline 3 will still get updates, don't worry. I **refuse** to abandon that story, but I think it would be a good idea to release this one alongside it, in order to give myself a refresher. These chapters will probably be a bit shorter than the ones I release on DTB, but chances are, they'll still be a few thousand words long._

 _If you haven't read this already, I sincerely hope you enjoy._

* * *

 **Chapter One:  
** _ **The Last Chance**_

It had been a whole forty seconds since Gru and Lucy arrived in Valerie's office, and still, the AVL director was yet to speak a single word. All she did was simply sit there, staring at the two agents fiercely, piercing through them with a laser-like gaze. The couple were too afraid to start the conversation themselves, so in response, they also just sat there, trying as hard as they could to avoid eye-contact with her. Unfortunately, to not much avail.

Clearly, Valerie was extremely infuriated, and for the most part, it was understandable as to why. Gru and Lucy were starting to tread on thin ice at this rate…

"Again!?" She finally exclaimed, startling the two agents. "You've let a notorious villain get away… _AGAIN_!?"

The married couple were unsure on how to respond. The last time Gru attempted to rebuttal when it came to losing a villain, he ended up screaming, making pathetic useless excuses, and costing the two their jobs. Because of this, he was afraid of saying anything, in fear of repeating that event.

"If you cannot tell, I am _FAR_ from impressed!" Valerie shouted, slamming her fist on the table. "My instruction was simple! Find Drab, foil his evil plan, and bring that idiot to justice! And yet, even though my orders were as _clear_ as day, here we are, empty-handed with a psychotic madman roaming around the streets! This is _UNACCEPTABLE_!"

"Okay! Look, we messed up." Lucy stated calmly and confidently, trying to keep herself nonchalant. If she appeared in any way aggressive, Valerie would almost instantly fire her on the spot. "But, if you give us another chance with Drab, I promise we'll get him this time."

"Oh, no, you can forget that idea!" Valerie stated harshly. "I gave you your chance and the two of you squandered it! I'll get another, more _capable_ duo to bring Drab in. You two on the other hand, I'm really unsure as to what to do with you!"

Gru and Lucy gave each other a fearful glance, before dropping the heads and keeping themselves deadly silent. The two were awaiting the two dreaded words that were surely on the tip of Valerie's tongue.

 _You're fired._

Ever since she used them the first time around, the two attempted with all their will to ensure she didn't have any reason to use them again. But, after Drab managed to escape them and carry out his evil plan of stealing a multimillion-dollar military weapon, it seemed they had failed.

Building the suspense, Valerie leaned back and stared at the ceiling, pretending to contemplate. From the moment this conversation began, she had already made up her mind.

She was _definitely_ going to fire them again.

Just as it was with Balthazar Bratt, it was critically important that Drab was brought in to face punishment for his crimes. And just as it was with Balthazar Bratt, this couple had messed it up and failed in bringing him in. Even though she was still impressed that they'd managed to take back the Dupont diamond a few months back, she couldn't allow this to keep happening.

Sighing belligerently, Valerie lowered her gaze back to the Gru's. She quite enjoyed firing people, so even though this would surely hurt them a great deal, she would at least get some shred of entertainment from it. But, just as she was about to yell the dreaded words, her eyes were caught by a form on her table…

Smirking, Valerie had a small change of heart. That form had been sitting there, completely unattended to, for a few weeks now, and it was beginning to play on her nerves. This was her chance to get rid of it and have that dreaded mission out of the way for good.

Plus, chances are, Gru and Lucy would fail and mess it up again. And if they did, the consequences would be a lot worse than just losing their jobs…

"Here's the deal, Gru's." Valerie started, making the couple lift their heads, now clearly intrigued. "I have a little mission here that's been causing quite a few problems, and no matter how hard I try, I can't get any willing agents to complete it for me."

"Uh…why ees dat?" Gru asked carefully, cocking his head to the side. With every word that left his mouth, Gru felt his heart-rate accelerate that little bit faster. The fear of saying the wrong thing being the reason why.

"Well, every agent we've sent so far has been found rather… _dead_ ," Valerie explained, a clear sense of rage in her eyes. She hated it when villains started overpowering her organization. Not only did it put lives at risk, but it also soured her position with the AVL head-office. "And it seems no-one is willing to take the risk. If I give the two of you one last chance, do you think you could sort it out, _without_ any mistakes?"

Looking at each other once again, Gru and Lucy beamed with relief.

"Of course!" Lucy exclaimed cheerily.

"What do we need to do?" Gru inquired.

"Simple really," Valerie replied, shrugging with an obviously fake smile. "The Portuguese AVL branch have been having a few issues with a large, ominous cult of villains, criminals, and thieves going by the name 'The Surto'. The gang has gotten so out-of-control, that they've requested help from every AVL branch situated across the entire globe. Every agent who has been sent there to aid the takedown has not returned, and have been presumed dead."

Usually, after Valerie stated that last fact, any agent in her office would either refuse the mission or begin hysterically panicking. However, Gru and Lucy seemed unfazed, as if the prospect of life-threatening danger excited them more than it scared them. It was a shame they were terrible at bringing in villains, since she sincerely admired that trait.

"So…what should we do?" Lucy asked.

"What do you think!?" Valerie snapped, thrusting forward in her seat, startling the couple a little. "Go to Portugal, locate the cult, find out what they're up to, and then bring in their leader! It's a simple ask, but knowing you two, you'll mess it up in some way!"

Gru and Lucy gave each other a peevish look of disappointment. They usually carried themselves in high regard, believing that they were some of the best agents around, so to be told otherwise was quite demoralizing.

"Now, get going!" Valerie blurted piercingly. "I'll arrange a flight for the two of you to Portugal tomorrow, so I expect you to be here first thing in the morning! Do I make myself clear!?"

"Mm-hmm." The couple mumbled in unison, frowning with frustration. They couldn't wait for this conversation to conclude.

"Good! Get out of my sight!" Valerie exclaimed, motioning her hand towards the door violently. Just as Gru and Lucy stood up to leave, Valerie continued, making the two of them roll their eyes with exasperation. "And take this as a warning, Gru's! If you return here without the leader of that cult, you can _FORGET_ keeping your jobs as AVL agents! This is your _VERY_ last chance! For both our sakes, I sincerely hope you don't squander it!"

Without another word, Gru and Lucy stormed out of the room, the urge to turn back and throttle Valerie being extremely overwhelming. Not only was her voice beyond maddening, but her constant gruff attitude was starting to grind at the couple's gears.

The two needed to get home and calm their nerves, since Valerie was not the only thing stressing their minds past their limit. The prospect of flying to Portugal to take down a hostile cult made up of dangerous villains and murderers, where their chances of being executed were higher than comfortable, was another thing causing them anxiety.

It wasn't the prospect of dying that scared the couple, since the adrenaline of lethal situations was one of the best part of the jobs, but it was more the _aftermath_ of their deaths that terrified them.

Just imagining the hurt expressions of their three endearing little girls after they learned of their parent's deaths and how they were being sent back to the orphanage was enough to give them nightmares.

It wasn't even worth thinking about. Imagining the bad outcomes was never a good idea when facing danger, since doing so increases the chances of those outcomes coming to fruition by a great deal.

Clearing their heads, the married couple sighed in unison as they slowly traipsed towards their parked vehicle.

"I can't wait to get back home." Gru proclaimed wearily, opening the metal tank's doors.

"Ugh…me too." Lucy responded, her voice filled with just as much weariness as her husband's. "I'm really starting to miss Silas. We never had these kinds of problems when he was director."

"Y'know, I never thought I'd be sayeeng dis," Gru began, slumping into the driver's seat. "But I'm starteeng to miss heem too."

As he started up the engine and sped out of the parking lot, the two AVL agents didn't notice the three hooded men inside a nearby black car, who creepily pulled off and left the vicinity without anyone noticing them…

* * *

As the couple slowly slogged through the living room doorway, Margo, Edith, Agnes and Dru were all laughing uproariously over something indeterminable. Chances are, considering the average mental age of everyone in the room, that something was very immature.

The moment that Agnes noticed her parents entering the room, she leaped from the couch and sprinted over to them, her expression populated with an immensely bright smile.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She exclaimed ecstatically. The instant she got to their feet, she wrapped her arms around their legs and bounced up and down, holding onto them tightly. "You're home!"

The couple couldn't help but chuckle. It didn't really matter how much stress plagued their day, because returning home was enough to bring the smiles back to their faces.

"Eet would appear so, sweetie." Gru replied, kneeling down to pick up the beaming girl in his arms. "Have yoo had a good day?"

"Mm-hmm." Agnes replied, nodding happily. "We had a tea party, and watched TV, and we helped Uncle Dru make dinner!"

Considering that Agnes was at the prime age of accidentally making messes, and knowing how destructive Edith becomes when given a task, Gru was now a little fearful for the state of his kitchen. Turning to his twin brother with a wry smile, Gru furrowed his brow dubiously.

"Ees dat so?" He questioned.

"I swear, we deedn't mean eet!" Dru exclaimed quickly, putting his hands up as if to defend himself. It was clear that he hadn't been paying any attention to the prior conversation.

"Deedn't mean _what_?" Gru inquired, smirking a little. Realizing his mistake, Dru lowered his hands and tried to act casual, obviously to not much avail.

"Oh…notheeng." He replied quietly. "I'd…uh…I'd stay out of de keetchen eef I was yoo."

Gru gave his brother another questionable look, one of which Dru tried to deflect again.

"No particular reason…"

Rolling his eyes, Gru couldn't help but snicker. Bearing in mind the stressful day he'd just endured, coming home to a destroyed kitchen should've enraged him even further. But with his whole family surrounding him, it was as if all that strain and frustration that'd been building up was completely erased, and he just couldn't find the urge to get angry.

"So…how was work?" Margo asked, as Agnes jumped from her father's arms and re-joined her sister's and uncle on the couch.

And just like that, the couple were brought back to reality. The reminder that their jobs were on the cusp of being revoked, and the reminder of the mission that could very well cost them their lives, came flying back to them like a frisbee.

Gru and Lucy turned to each other cumbersomely. It was bad enough telling the girls that they'd been fired, let alone telling them they were leaving for a mission that was as important as it was deadly.

Before they had the chance to speak up, Edith noticed the distress in their expressions, and much to their dismay, responded for them.

"Did you get canned again?" She asked solemnly, a feeling of which spread to her sister's.

"No, no!" Lucy responded frantically, trying to prevent upsetting them. Racking her mind for words, she desperately searched for a way to tell the girls the news, without causing too much fear. However, after a few moments of silence, the redhead turned to her husband and looked at him as if to ask for help.

"Hey, I told dem last time!" Gru stated upon noticing his wife's expression. "Eet's _your_ turn now."

Huffing with defeat, Lucy strolled over and slumped down in the middle of her three daughters, who were all glaring up at her inquisitively. They could tell something was up, and fearing the worst, were filling up with worry.

"I've got some bad news, girls." She started. "Me and your dad made a little… _mistake_ , and we have to do something big to make up for it."

"Something big?" Margo questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Uh…the two of us have to take down a really big group of people, called a cult," She explained. "And if we can do that, then…we get to keep our jobs. Otherwise, we _are_ gonna get ' _canned_ ' again."

"A cult!?" Dru questioned, also looking as panicked as the girls. "But aren't dey kinda… _dangerous_?"

"Well, yeah." Lucy started, turning away in thought. "But…so are villains, and we've beaten _loads_ of them before!"

"But cults are _tons_ more dangerous den villains, Lucy!" Dru stated loudly. "Yoo…yoo could get _killed_!"

The girls gasped loudly in unison, and in a bout of panic, Agnes couldn't help but quickly latch on to Lucy's leg, as if she was trying to trap her to the couch. Sending Dru one last harshly aggressive look, Lucy dropped her head and sighed, wishing deeply that this entire situation wasn't happening.

Every single time Gru and Lucy left for a mission, there was always the risk of death. There would always be that chance that they would leave and never return. However, most of the missions that they embarked upon involved taking down one single villain and bringing them to justice. They were pretty good at doing that.

However, taking down a whole cult, one of which was supposedly made up of extremely dangerous villains, was on a whole new level of lethality.

The odds were heavily out of their favor. When they leave for Portugal tomorrow, there was an incredibly uncomfortable chance that their lives would come to a horrible end, and that very thought made them beyond afraid.

After a whole minute of tense silence in the room, Gru clapped his hands and grabbed everyone's attention, trying to move things along.

"Right den, gurls!" He boomed, attempting to ignore the horrible possibility clouding the whole family. "Eet's getteeng quite late! Let's go get you ready for bed."

Without a word, the girls slowly rose from their seats and plodded out of the room, Agnes instinctively clinging onto her eldest sister's hand for comfort. There was a clear and awfully painful sense of fear shadowing them, and the two parents hated the sight of it.

As Dru and Lucy got up and made their way out of the room, Gru stopped them at the door and looked towards his brother.

"Could I…have a leetle chat weeth yoo?" He asked. Dru kept quiet and gave him an uncertain look, but upon realizing how long he'd remained silent, nodded his head quickly. As the two brothers made their way back to the couch, Gru gave his wife a small nod. "I'll be up een a bit."

Nodding in return, Lucy disappeared into the hallway and left the room, a solemn pout inhabiting her face as she did so.

With a worrisome slump, Gru and Dru sat down on the crocodile couch, the latter looking as confused as he did concerned.

"What's up?"

"Uh…are yoo planneeng to leave for any evil schemes over de next few days?" Gru inquired.

"Oh, well, I was theenking about breakeeng eento de local art museum and stealeeng one of de painteengs, and den I was theenking about shutteeng off de power supply for de Paradise mall, and den I was theenking about-" Dru replied, but upon realizing that he was talking to an AVL agent, stopped himself and gave Gru a sheepish look. "Uhhh…I probably shouldn't have told yoo dat."

"I'll forget yoo said anytheeng." Gru replied, unable to smirk, even though he wanted to. "See, I ask because…do yoo theenk yoo could look after de gurls for de next few days. Me and Lucy aren't gonna be able to."

"Oh, uh…yeah, sure." Dru agreed, nodding. "Wait…de next few _days_? What are yoo doeeng?"

"What do yoo theenk?" Gru mumbled sorrowfully. "Dis stupeed cult of villains are situated over een Portugal, so me and Lucy are gonna be away for a while."

"Oh…" Dru murmured, dropping his head. Portugal was quite far away from the US, so if the AVL were asking Gru and Lucy to travel all that way to take down this cult, then it must be extremely important. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Dru continued. "Well…be sure to breeng me back sometheeng."

Chuckling a little, Gru nodded. However, to make way for his next question, which he was tremendously afraid of asking, the chuckle was abruptly cut short.

"But…one more theeng…" Gru started. "Do you theenk dat…eef possible…yoo would be able to look after de gurls for even longer?"

Furrowing his brow, Dru gave his brother a befuddled gaze.

"Wh…what do yoo mean?"

"Well, Dru…" Gru replied quietly, and extremely carefully. This was a very sensitive topic to talk about. "Eef…eef sometheeng was to happen…do you theenk yoo could step een for me and Lucy?" Still completely baffled, Dru continued to glare at his brother with a perplexed expression, signaling for him to elaborate further. "…so dey don't have to go back to de orphanage."

"Oh!" Dru exclaimed, as the realization hit him. Turning away awkwardly, the blonde villain mumbled his next sentence, trying to figure out a way to escape this conversation. Of course, if it came to it, he would definitely be there for the girls, but the very prospect terrified him deeply. "Um…I…I guess…"

"Eet won't come to dat!" Gru exclaimed confidently, talking as direct as he could with his brother. "But…just een case, y'know."

"Uh…yeah, yeah, sure. I got ya." Dru replied, standing up and pacing out of the room hastily. "Anyway, I'm…I'm shattered, so…I'll see yoo when…when yoo _come back_."

"Um…right." Gru replied, sighing as his brother practically ran out into the hallway, clearly uncomfortable with the discussion.

This day was getting worse and worse as it went on. In hindsight, if he could go back in time, Gru definitely would've turned down the mission and accepted being fired. I mean, working in some dead-end job was a lot better than being separated from his beloved daughters and wife by death.

Getting up from his seat, the former villain walked across the room and trudged out into the hallway, but as he did so, his brother jumped from around the corner and grabbed him in an unexpected hug.

"I love you, brother." He mumbled. Huffing sadly, Gru wrapped his arms around Dru in return, as if he was a very small child in need of comfort, and replied, knowing this could be last time he would be with him.

"I love you too, Dru." He muttered. "I love you too…"

* * *

The men needed to move quick. If they didn't return to the hideout in time, they were sure to face severe consequences. They had an idea as to what punishment they would receive, mainly based on witnessing others returning late, but in order to keep a hold of their nerve, they refrained from thinking about it.

This would be the fifth time these men had undergone this type of mission. It was, apart from the lengthy travel distances, a fairly simple mission. Spy on a specific AVL base, figure out whether or not they were investigating the cult, and then find out information on the agents they send. The men were hoping to spy on the Portuguese AVL branch, in the hopes that they didn't have to fly long distances, but unfortunately, they'd been handed the US job.

Every recruit was also forced into returning to the hideout before 12AM, otherwise, that aforementioned punishment would be awaiting them.

Right now, it was 11:56PM, and the blood was pumping through their veins like bullet trains. They were driving as fast as they possibly could through the woodland, just trying to reach the hideout before the time threshold, but thankfully, it did seem they were going to make it. They could see the dim lights of the ceased, rundown village in the distance, so the chances of being late were now pretty low.

Finally, they made it to the front gates. The folder firmly in his grasp, the first hooded recruit jumped from the black car and approached the speaker, his legs moving at pace. Holding a finger upon the small red button, the recruit spoke into the microphone, his breaths rolling out uncomfortably quick.

"Here to see the boss." He said, promptly letting go of the button after speaking.

"Password?" The man on the speaker replied.

"Odious." He stated firmly. "Just open up, man! If we're late, it's totally on you!"

A large buzzer noise sounded, and shortly after, the metal gates opened up. Not wasting any time, the recruit sprinted back to the car and jumped into the front seat, driving quickly into the dark and creepy village almost immediately.

Right in front of the largest and cleanest looking building, the recruits swerved and came to a stop, quickly leaping from the car instantly after. They ran through the double doors at speed and momentarily glanced around the room.

The room was very big but mostly empty. The only light inside was the dim flickering of a few lone candles and the barely noticeable moonlight shining from the windows.

Only a few recruits were sitting inside, and all of them were simply relaxing and reading the latest articles in the Portuguese newspaper. Bright and jubilant smiles were painted firmly across their features. Chances are, the fact that they made it back in time to avoid punishment was the reason why.

Multiple pieces of furniture and a staircase leading upwards was situated to their left, while bulletin boards and a staircase leading downwards was situated to their right. The ticking of a clock could be heard from somewhere inside the room, reminding them of their horribly strict deadline.

They bulleted across the room and climbed the left staircase at speed. They had no clue as to what the time was, but in order to keep up their pace and avoid being late, they opted to keep running instead of checking their watches.

A moment later, they made it to the top of the staircase and emerged inside another large room, this one a lot brighter and warmer than the one below. Inside, a fireplace, multiple computers, a big microphone, and a large desk populated the area. A small wooden chair sat behind the desk, and sat atop it, an olive-skinned man in a white lab-coat was turned away from them.

The recruits dashed up to the desk and promptly placed the folder atop of it, panting heavily as they tried desperately to catch their desk.

"Sir." The first one spoke, pausing to take a breath. "We've returned."

Not turning around, the man in the white lab-coat spoke up, his voice low and thickened with an accent.

"Gentlemen." He replied. "What time are recruits supposed to return?"

"Uh...12AM." One of them said, his voice quivering with fear.

"Correct." The man responded, nodding. He proceeded to flaunt his hand towards a nearby digital clock, all the while still refusing to turn around. "And what time do you call this?"

The clock read '12:00:03AM', a mere three seconds past the deadline. The recruit's hearts stopped dead for a moment, the realization of what was happening hitting them like a wrecking ball.

"B-But...we did get back in time!" One of them argued, his whole body beginning to tremble. "It's just...it's just you've been talking to us...and...and-"

"I do not care for your pathetic excuses!" The man exclaimed, standing up from his seat and giving them an irate glare, finally making eye-contact with the recruits. "The time has passed 12AM, hence, you are late!"

"But...we got the information!" Another one of the recruits explained, pointing at the folder on the desk. "The US AVL branch is planning another take down on us! We have to act fa-"

"GUARDS!" The man boomed loudly, hammering his fist on the desk. Before the recruits had a chance to clock what was happening, three large henchmen, who wore tattered clothing and looked beyond worse-for-wear, grabbed them by the arms and held them inside a strong vice grip. "These men have returned late. You know what to do with them."

"NO! PLEASE!" The recruit screamed, kicking his legs in the hope of breaking free. The guards pulled them away quickly, dragging them back down the staircase. "NOT THE INJECTION! ANYTHING BUT THE INJECTION!"

As the recruit's screams slowly faded away, the man in the lab-coat proceeded to sit back down, this time with the folder in his hands. He wasted no time in opening it up and inspecting the contents inside, where he found two-character profiles.

The man read the details listed upon them, which detailed the names and the personal information of two specific AVL agents. Beside the information, pictures of the agents had been placed upon them, making the man grin devilishly.

"Hmm...Felonious and Lucy Gru, huh?" He spoke aloud to himself. "I guess I'll be seeing you soon..."

* * *

 _Hope you enjoyed the opening chapter. Will return ASAP._


	2. It Was Nice Knowing You

_As I always say, sincere thanks to anyone who reviewed. I'm glad many of you seemingly enjoyed the opening chapter, and I hope this one doesn't disappoint._

* * *

 **Chapter Two -  
** _ **It Was Nice Knowing You**_

The strong, afternoon sun was beating heavily down on a small, friendly Portuguese village, going by the name Bondade. Groups of people were conversing contentedly on the street, and families were making the most of the daylight in their backyards, either hosting small barbeques or playing in their small paddle pools.

However, even though the town was very beautiful and the people were nice and kind, Gru and Lucy couldn't have been more miserable. Not just by the horrible jet lag that was left behind by the tedious seven-hour flight, but also because of the possibility that they may never return home, where their three beloved children were fearfully waiting.

They sat inside their designated AVL coach, staring out of the window at the quaint corner-shops and small town-houses. Even though the atmosphere around the village was one of friendliness and optimism, there did seem to be an air of fear hidden below, evident by the clear fake expressions of joy placed on the resident's faces.

Once the couple had spied the many, many different missing person posters that were littering the walls, the reason why quickly became clear…

Eventually, the coach pulled up into a very small and dirty parking lot, one that was situated right outside of an equally small hotel. However, it didn't look like any other standard hotel. It was one made mostly out of titanium and marble, making the whole place both shiny and secure. Stood outside of the building, were dozens of large and intimidating henchmen, each one donning muscles the size of large rocks. The bold 'AVL' letters were printed on a sign above the entrance, proving who owned this strange building.

"Woah." Lucy mumbled, that word being the first to leave her mouth for almost an hour. "I didn't realize the AVL owned hotels."

"Can yoo even call dis a hotel?" Gru questioned, who accidentally made eye-contact with one of the brutish guards at the front doors. He immediately looked down at his feet after doing so to avoid a confrontation, since he figured these guys were on strict orders when it came to anyone acting suspicious. "Dis place feels more like a prison…"

After a very small wait, a short man with combed black hair and dark glasses stepped onto the coach, a strong smell of deodorant accompanying him. He offered the couple a welcoming smile, but since way too much fear was lodged inside their heads, Gru and Lucy failed to reciprocate, and only responded with a blank stare.

"You must be the Gru's." He spoke happily, extending his hand out for a handshake, which the two solemnly met. "My name's Zach. I'm the American representative for the AVL branch over here in Portugal. I hope you had a good flight over."

"Does eet _look_ like we had a good flight?" Gru responded sharply, maybe a little too sharply considering the man's innocent, outgoing attitude. Zach dropped his head and shrugged, immediately seeming more sorrowful.

"Yes, well, apologies for that. But, though this may be frustrating for you both, it's all for a good cause. The people around here have been terrified as of late, and the quicker this cult is dealt with the better."

"What exactly have they been doing?" Lucy inquired.

"Jeez, where do I even start?" Zach replied, rolling his eyes a little. "Residents have been kidnapped, innocent people have been murdered, families have been torn apart. And that's only the beginning. If you'd follow me, we can go inside and discuss this horrible situation further."

Gru and Lucy shared yet another fearful glance, which must've been the tenth one they'd shared that day, and stood up out of their coach seats. They stepped down from the vehicle and followed Zach through the dusty parking lot, ignoring the fearful looks they received from multiple residents around them.

"So, has eet really been _dat_ bad?" Gru asked.

"Unfortunately." Zach replied, somberly nodding. "I've never seen such an awful situation in my entire life, and I've been on the field for almost twenty years. You guys really are brave for agreeing to this."

The couple dropped their heads sadly in unison. Brave, or just plain stupid?

Was this even worth it? Was going through with the mission that could very well permanently separate them from their daughters a good idea? Yes, they could lose their jobs, but being fired and forced to find a 'normal' job was a lot better than never seeing the girls, Dru, Dr. Nefario, or the minions ever again.

Lost in their consuming, fear-driven thoughts, Zach dragged the couple through the huge, high-tech reception, and up a flight of stairs to their room. Their hotel room was a lot different than they'd anticipated. They were expecting a small double-bed and possibly a TV set if they were lucky, not a large room full of computers, machines, weaponry, radars, research documents, and a few pieces of standard furniture here and there.

"So, this is your room." Zach said, stating the obvious. "Every room here at the AVL hotel is full of everything you need to complete your mission. Computers, scanning devices, weapons. We've got you covered!"

"Wow." Gru replied, surprised by the sheer number of unexplained devices surrounding him. Now he knows what it must've been like for the girls, when they stepped into his huge, confusing lab for the very first time. "Dis ees… _insane_."

"It sure is." Zach agreed, nodding as he spun his gaze around the room. He'd seen it a million times before, but yet, he could never tire of the room's massively impressive design, nor could he tire of the guest's reactions upon seeing it. "Now, relax, take a load off, get yourself acquainted with the room. The main office downstairs will call you when they're ready to see you. They'll tell you everything you need to know about 'The Surto', and exactly what you guys need to do to stop them."

"Um…thanks." Gru muttered, his mind still a million miles away. This whole terrifying situation was becoming more and more clear in his mind as time went on, and thinking clearly was becoming more of an arduous task.

Zach, who could feel the evident tension in the air, responded with a faint nod before promptly leaving the room. He understood that they were both worried and stressed, and honestly, he didn't blame them. If anything, they weren't nearly fearful enough, considering the lethality of the mission ahead of them…

Once he disappeared out into the hallway, the couple stood dead still for a minute, simply analyzing their large and baffling surroundings. With every new turn of the head, they found another machine or item of indeterminate origin, and the pressure weighing on their shoulders grew that little bit larger.

Finally, after a few seconds, which felt like an eternity to Gru and Lucy, they turned to each other and let out a long and much-needed sigh.

"Well, I guess we should…" Lucy started, pausing to shrug slightly. "Make ourselves at home."

Delaying his response, Gru turned and inspected the many computers and devices that surrounded him yet again, and once he spotted a list of kidnapped people on a nearby monitor, he turned back to his wife and handed her a doubtful look.

"I don't theenk dat's gonna happen…"

* * *

Back over in the US, a white-donned blonde villain woke up to his cold underground bedroom in a less than fantastic mood. In fact, he woke up in a _lot_ less than a fantastic mood. Even though that wasn't very characteristic of him, it was pretty understandable in this case.

How could he be in a good mood when his twin brother and sister-in-law were in an entirely different continent, fighting some cult that had apparently stolen the lives of many, many people? He was obviously terrified, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't stop imagining the horrific possibilities that stood ahead.

His brother could end up dead. His nieces could once again be orphaned. His whole life could very soon tear apart.

Though, even though his brain was completely filled up with negative thoughts, he could not let it show through his facial expression. The girls must be just as terrified as him, and if they were to see their own uncle in just as an upset state, it would only add to their already extensive fear.

Once he'd made it upstairs and walked through the kitchen doors, the intense upsetting atmosphere hit him unexpectedly hard. Sat at the table, the three sisters were resting their heads uncomfortably in their hands, staring off into the distance at something that was seemingly a million miles away. They were all abnormally quiet, with not a laugh, shout, or argument in sight, and the air was filled with a horrible eerie silence.

Suffice to say, Dru despised it.

Putting on one of the fakest smiles that he could possibly conceive, the villain bounced over to the table and practically jumped into the empty booth space, trying with all of his might to lift their spirits.

"Morneeng, gurls!" He exclaimed, scaring the living daylights out of them. "Sleep well?"

"Uhh…not really…" Margo mumbled, dropping her head once again, her sisters soon following suit. Just like her uncle, she just could not push those negative thoughts out of her head, no matter how hard she tried. That was one trait that she absolutely hated about herself, the fact that she could never stop imagining the worst possibility from every bad situation.

Dru let out a quiet, annoyed huff under his breath. He wasn't annoyed at the girls or anything, he was annoyed at himself. How could he ask such a stupid question? Of course they weren't going to sleep well. Not with last night's news on their mind.

"When are mommy and daddy getting back?" Agnes asked, looking up at Dru with the most pleading expression he'd ever seen. The sight almost tore his heart-strings apart.

"Um...I'm not sure, Agnes." Dru murmured, wishing he had an answer that would appease her. "Not too long hopefully."

All three girls sighed sadly in unison, dropping their heads that little bit lower.

"I miss them." Agnes muttered, her voice drained of any happiness.

"Yeah, me too." Edith added, her face a mix of a frown and sorrowful pout. "This _sucks_."

Unable to withstand the girl's dejection any longer, Dru let out a small, unhappy sigh before leaning in closer and speaking to them with an assuring tone, one of which that hid the one of desperation.

"Look, I know dat Gru and Lucy being so far away ees pretty scary…" He started, unable to hold eye-contact with any of his nieces, mostly because he just couldn't stand that hopeless look on their faces for another second. "But…everytheeng's gonna be okay. I mean, everytheeng always turns out well een de end. Remember when Balthazar put yoo guys up on dat buildeeng. Eet deedn't look like yoo were gonna be getteeng back down. But we were wrong. Yoo guys were fine, and likewise, Gru and Lucy will also be fine. Trust me, dose two will be walkeeng back through de door een any second."

Finally, he edged his head up a little, just to perceive their reactions from his small reassuring speech. Margo still looked extremely uncomfortable, which had him a little more upset, but the worry on both Edith and Agnes's face had seemed to deter slightly. This time, there seemed to be a lot more hope and optimism in their expressions, which Dru had sincerely missed the sight of.

"You're not just saying that are you?" Edith questioned, lowering her head a little. Dru let out a wide, toothy smile before responding.

"Of course not!" He exclaimed. "I am being _100%_ serious! I know dat dose two will be _totally_ fine!"

"Pinky promise?" Agnes inquired, quickly extending out her pinky, her voice a little more high-pitched than usual. Dru's smile softened to a warm grin, as he too extended his pinky and wrapped it around his youngest niece's.

"I pinky promise." He assured, watching as Edith and Agnes's face lit up brightly. He didn't cast a look at Margo, since he just couldn't handle that doubtful, concerned expression that she always donned in these sorts of worrying situations. He doubted this time would be any different.

If she was still upset, then he did want to give cheering her up another go, but at the same time, he also wanted to avoid upsetting himself. His own speech had also seemingly reassured himself as well as the girls, and he didn't want that prior fear returning. Although, just thinking that very thought had his mind racing away again for a moment.

He was forced to shake it off to avoid sharing his uneasy look with the girls again...

"Now, what do we all want for breakfast?"

* * *

Looking out over the balcony, Lucy stared across the moderately sized village and the huge woodland that surrounded it, unable to ignore that hint of terror in the air. The time of day was now ticking on, what with the sun slowly starting to set and the residents retreating to their homes, and the dreaded mission that could cost her her life was edging closer and closer.

Letting out a small sad sigh, the redhead lowered her gaze to stare down at the hotel's pool. Obviously, it was completely empty, since only professional AVL agents were staying here, and they weren't particularly concerned with swimming when they all had missions to complete. One had to question why on earth a pool was even here in the first place.

A few minutes later, Gru came trudging through the glass doors to stand beside his spouse on the balcony, the couple staring out over the horizon together in silence. He wrapped his arm around her side and pulled her closer to him, the female agent electing to lull her head against his shoulder. Maybe it was the sight of the stunning sunset or the fact that they were right beside each other, but right now, they were clouded with a strange mix of emotions.

It was a combination of happiness and total terror, two feelings that didn't really work well together…

"Yoo know we're goeeng to be fine, right?" Gru spoke quietly, finally breaking the warm silence that had unwillingly built-up. "Yoo know dis cult aren't goeeng to stand a chance against us, right?"

"I know…" Lucy mumbled, subconsciously getting closer to her husband. She wasn't one for getting upset in front of people, since it was something that the AVL had trained out of you, but when she was beside Gru, she felt a lot more comfortable in letting her thoughts roam free. "But…I mean…there's always a chance that-"

"No, Lucy, do _not_ theenk like dat." Gru interrupted gently, holding her in a slightly tighter embrace. "We gotta believe een ourselves! Eef we theenk we're goeeng to die, den we _will_ die. Yoo _know_ we always end up kickeeng butts. We've been _trained_ to kick butts. Just…don't worry about eet, okay. We'll be home weeth de gurls een no time, I know we will…"

Lucy smiled a little at the mention of the girls, but found it quickly fading away at the thought of losing them. She just couldn't handle this. Usually, villains were no match for her or Gru. There was practically no chance of death when they took them on, since they were way too skilled and experienced for any bog-standard wannabe bad guy to defeat them.

But, _a cult_? A cult full of dozens of talented villains? A cult that are apparently _out of control_? A cult that had killed many, many trained AVL agents before?

You would need to have no nerves at all to not be at least a little bit frightened by that…

Just as the evening sun was about to disappear behind the horizon, an unexpected phone call from inside the room startled the two from their encompassing thoughts. Shaking his head free from a momentary daze, Gru speedily jogged inside to answer it, Lucy following on behind.

"Hello." He spoke, as he picked up the receiver and held it to his ear.

"The head-staff are ready to see you now." A man with a very strong Portuguese accent responded, skipping the pleasantries. "Please come down into the lobby and wait for further instruction."

"Oh…uh…sure theeng." Gru replied, placing the phone back down and promptly turning to his wife, who seemed a little nervous. "Looks like eet's…" He couldn't help but pause for a moment, struggling to release the final two words. " _Go time_ …"

* * *

The AVL couple stood inside the hotel's ground-floor lobby, observing their busy surroundings with a keen eye. Many agents were darting in and out through the front entrance, each one either leaving to pursue their next target, or entering to rest up for the night.

Eventually, after a five-minute wait, which felt like an eternity to the two of them, Zach appeared from behind and tapped Gru's shoulder, startling him a little. The couple turned around and inspected the representative's wide and elated smile, of which the two could only respond with a small, apprehensive frown.

"So, are you guys ready to take this cult down _once and for all_?" He boomed, punching the air a little.

"Uh…you betcha!" Lucy replied, frantically attempting to replace every remnant of fear with forged determination. "We're…we're _SO_ ready!"

"That's the spirit!" Zach exclaimed, his smile somehow growing even larger. "If you come with me, we'll head to the main office, where the head-staff are waiting to brief you on your mission. No need to worry, they're very friendly people."

"Hmph…well, dat's a change." Gru muttered, receiving an odd look from Zach in return. Obviously, he had never met Valerie before in his life, considering that he spends every working moment in Portugal away from her, hence he could never know exactly how much of a terrible person she was. Gru couldn't help but feel jealous. He sincerely wished he'd never met that nasty witch either.

Traipsing through the lobby and down a small corridor, Zach lead the married couple to an impressively high-tech door, which donned a digital sign that read 'Escritório Central'. He waved his hand across a barely visible light beam, which made a touch-screen panel emerge from the wall and demand a passcode. He inputted an indeterminable eight-digit number, right before a loud, high-pitched beep was sounded, and the high-tech door promptly opened up.

The three emerged into an averagely sized room, with a more-than-average amount of crazy-looking devices. A series of photographs of the surrounding village lined the shiny, metallic walls, and an assortment of overflowing cabinets were placed on the ground beside them. Radar systems, security cameras, and other unknown machinery were stationed at the very back of the room, each one constantly blurting out different beep sounds.

Finally, placed dead-center inside the unusual office, a long desk with three suited, olive-skinned agents stood directly in front of them. One of them was a middle-aged man with brown, combed hair, the other was a thin, black-haired young woman who donned a very toothy smile, and the other was an elderly, stocky man, who was completely bald apart from the odd strand of grey hair.

"Greetings." The woman welcomed, her voice thick with a heavy accent. "You must be the Gru's."

"Uh…that's us." Lucy replied, returning the woman's overzealous smile.

"Very nice to meet you." The elderly man spoke, his voice just as accented. He gave the couple a polite nod, which they promptly returned, before flaunting his hand in his associate's direction. "I am Mr. Afonso, this is Miss. Cotta, and at the end there, is-"

"Mr. Renaud." The final man interrupted rudely, spinning around in his seat and giving the couple a violent frown. He also had a strong accent, but unlike the other two, he didn't seem to be of Portuguese descent. If Gru and Lucy could take a guess, judging on his accent and his surname, they'd say he was probably French. "If I may be honest for a moment, you are pretty crazy to be taking on dis job Mr. and Mrs. Gru. You must have heard of all of ze murders and kidnappings, no? May I ask why you would be so _stupeed_ to accept such a dangerous job?"

Caught off guard by the question, Gru and Lucy gave each other a confused look, before later handing it to Zach, who immediately became sheepish. It seemed that one of these head-staff members wasn't as friendly as he'd claimed…

"Um…well, we deedn't have much of a choice." Gru replied, shrugging. "Eet was either dis or lose our jobs."

"And yes, we _have_ heard of all the murders and kidnappings," Lucy added aggressively, putting her hands on her hips. "But we ain't bothered! Things like that don't scare us."

"Pfft, very nice try, Mrs…uh…whatever your name was again," Renaud replied, leaning in closer to the two agents. "But I can see it in your eyes dat what you just said was a complete _lie_! I can tell dat ze two of you are very clearly terrified."

"Terrified?" Gru questioned, smirking humorously. "Of what? Some stupeed leetle cult dat keednaps a bunch of weak agents. Dose guys are no match for de two of us!"

"Ugh…zere's one thing I hate above anything else, Mr…uh…Goo, and zat's over-confidence!" Renaud retorted, shaking his head in apparent disgust. "Besides, you cannot lie to me. I know zat ze two of you are scared. I know zat ze two of you do not want to go through with this, probably because you do not want to orphan zose three little girls of yours."

At the mention of the girls, Gru growled and strutted up to the desk, looking down on Mr. Renaud's snobbish expression with an extreme frown.

" _Furst_ of all, de name ees _GRU_ , not Goo…" He stated darkly. "And second of all, how de _hell_ do you know about my daughters!?"

"Ze US branch sent over all of your details, _Gru_ , so I know every little god-damn zing about you." Renaud responded sharply, seemingly unfazed by the man's threatening demeanor. "I know about your daughters, I know about your villainy history, and I also know about your complete and utter incompetence on the field. You have been placed on probation, no? How pathetic. Truth be told, I do not zink you are qualified enough to complete zis job."

"Yoo don't theenk I'm _QUALIFIED_ enough!?" Gru exclaimed angrily, resisting the urge to punch the belligerent idiot right that second. "Why yoo've gotta be takeeng de-"

"Mr. Gru." The elderly man interrupted, standing up from his seat. Gru stopped and turned to face the other head-staff member at speed, giving him a mixed look of ire and befuddlement. "Before you continue and say something that you might regret, I must add that Mr. Renaud's thoughts and feelings do not represent everyone here at the Portuguese AVL branch. Me and Miss. Cotta have read up on your profile, and we believe you are more than capable enough to sufficiently complete this job. Now may I politely ask for you to take a seat and calm down?"

His anger softening, Gru turned back and complied with the man's polite demands. Lucy shortly followed suit, however, not before sending Renaud her own irate frown. They sat down upon two of the seats in front of the desk and gave Mr. Alfonso and Miss. Cotta the calmest possible expression they could conceive. They elected to completely ignore Mr. Renaud this time, since chances are, he was still wearing that prior harsh scowl.

"Thank you." Miss. Cotta cooed, dipping her head a little to express her gratitude. It's very clear that taking this cult down was very, very important to her, just be the relief in her face alone. For whatever reason, Gru and Lucy decided against questioning it, fearful that they may end up treading in a sore spot. "Now, even though we have complete faith in your ability, we must stress how difficult this mission is. Our reports have confirmed that over one-hundred deaths, and also over four-hundred disappearances, have been linked to 'The Surto' in one way or another."

"Wow…" Lucy muttered, glancing at her husband, who handed her a clone of her uneasy expression. "That's…a lot of people."

"It certainly is." Mr. Alfonso added. "That's why it's imperative that the two of you are fully-concentrated throughout this entire mission. One little thing goes wrong, and it's almost certain that you'll be kidnapped, or worse, killed. But, if you stay focused and keep your guard up at all times, things will be totally fine."

"We won't let yoo down…we promise." Gru spoke, handing his wife a determined look, who sighed quietly and nodded.

"What do we need to do?" Lucy quizzed. Before responding, Miss. Cotta leaned down beneath the desk and began rummaging through a hidden pair of cabinets. Sitting up straight again, the young woman retrieved an A4 document and handed it to the couple, which displayed a well-drawn map of the nearby forest, complete with many annotations and printed pictures of the locations.

"A few miles inside the surrounding wood is 'The Surto's' abandoned village, which they're using as a discreet hideout location." She explained, pointing at the illustration of the aforementioned village. "We believe this is where the leader resides and where the hostages are being held. What we need you two to do, is to drive to the location, enter the compound, abduct the leader, and bring him back here so he can face his penalty. Once we have him locked up and away from the premises, we are safe to attack the location without having too many casualties. You see, the man is very devious and cunning, and we don't believe we will succeed in taking the place down while he's still there."

"Seriously?" Gru questioned, giving the two head-staff members a look of shock. "How cunneeng ees he den?"

"Um…well…we don't know how to explain this to you, Mr. Gru, but…" Alfonso started, seemingly racking his brain while he spoke. "He has these… _ways_ …of just defeating us without trouble. We don't know how he does it, but every time we conduct an attack on the location, he makes every trained agent disappear without a trace in moments. It's…incredibly perplexing, to say the least."

"Uh…that sounds a lot more than just… _perplexing_." Lucy responded, giving Gru a look of complete despair.

Now, she didn't want to be a part of this. She usually flew into every mission with determination and excitement, ready to kick every evil butt in sight with flair and vigor. But, on this occasion, what with the information they'd just received and the fact that her daughters will now _most likely_ be orphaned again…

…she couldn't feel an ounce of determination anywhere in her entire body.

Handing Gru the most petrified expression that she could possibly produce, she practically pleaded him to turn the mission down, grab their suitcases, head back for the airport, and get back to the comfort of their whole, happy family. But yet, even though he read her expression correctly and couldn't help but agree with that proposition, Gru nodded and gave Alfonso and Cotta a faint smile.

"Got eet." He informed promptly. "I…I presume yoo'll provide transport to de village."

"Of course. We're not going to make you walk all the way there, now are we." Alfonso replied humorously, extending his hand for a handshake, which Gru quickly met. When he spun and did the same to Lucy, the redhead could only stare at him for a few seconds, unable to control her thoughts. She knew that nothing good could come out of shaking his hand. She knew that going through with this would be the worst decision of her life. She knew that agreeing to this would confirm their deaths once-and-for-all…

But yet, after managing to ignore every threat that her mind conjured up, Lucy met the handshake and forced out a smile, trying desperately to hide the acute panic inside.

"Thank you again, Mr. and Mrs. Gru." Miss Cotta said, standing up from her seat, everyone else in the room soon following suit. "We have no doubt that you will complete this mission for us, but in any case, we wish you good luck."

Gru and Lucy responded with a very swift nod, simply because they were absolutely sick to death of talking about this awful situation, and started towards the high-tech door once again. Just as they were about to leave and enter the hallway outside, Mr. Renaud cleared his throat and spoke, gathering the couple's attention at the last moment.

"Gru's, just one last zing before you leave…" He started, smiling with a wicked grin.

"It was nice knowing you..."

* * *

 _Hope you enjoyed. Will return ASAP._


	3. Village Of The Dead

_Okay, so obviously, I've gotta start by apologizing for leaving this story for so long. I don't know why it took me almost a year to find the motivation to write this out, but alas, it's here. For anyone who reviewed the second chapter all that time ago, it's much appreciated._

 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter Three -**  
 _ **Village Of The Dead**_

The bright yellow sun was shining heavily from the clear blue sky. The air was pretty warm to the touch, and overall, it was a day you simply couldn't spend inside. So, to get the girls out of the house and temporarily away from recent events, Dru thought it would be a good idea to take them out to the nearby park.

And to give him credit, it seemed to be a success so far, since the moment they took their first step outside, Edith and Agnes brightened up a tonne. Maybe it was escaping the confines of the house, or maybe it was the happy atmosphere of the sunny world outside, but they'd been possessing wide smiles the entire way there. Dru had to admit it, he absolutely loved seeing their little faces glow joyfully.

However, the same couldn't be said for Margo, who was, unfortunately, growing more and more depressed by the second. Even though it made him feel a little guilty, Dru decided that he would rather just not look at her, since every time he did, he couldn't help but join her in that pit of worry.

Don't get him wrong, he completely understood. Even though he'd only known her for about half-a-year, he'd comfortably concluded that Margo was just a worrier. She always got herself worked up over things, and no matter how hard she tried, the prospect of things going wrong always got to her.

Though he absolutely loved her for the person that she was and he would never want her changing herself or her personality for anything, Dru couldn't help but wish that she didn't hold that trait.

Finally, the four of them made it to the local park, which was completely empty. One had to question why, considering it was a super sunny day and this neighborhood was predominantly made up of families with children. Either way, they weren't going to say anything. Having the whole park to themselves wasn't a thing to complain about.

As they all made their way down the small, concrete path, Dru's eyes were caught by a certain something in the distance, and the squeal that emitted from his voicebox was almost enough to damage the hearing of everyone within his vicinity.

"Yoo deedn't tell me dis place had a _JUNGLE GYM_!"

Not wasting a moment, Dru raced over to the aforementioned structure and leaped up on to them, climbing across the bars at pace. He absolutely used to love these as a kid. Simply just seeing them now brought back memories of his childhood, when his father would endlessly pressure him into climbing faster or with more agility.

Looking back, Robert was probably hoping he would grow up into an expert climber if he used these from a young age, something that could probably aid with perpetrating villainous heists and the like.

That may also explain why he always seemed so disappointed when he would slowly crawl across them...

Either way, with all of that time spent practicing as a kid, and through all of the experience he'd gained over the past few months while conducting some of his own heists, he'd actually developed into a pretty decent climber, evident by how quick he could traverse this jungly gym nowadays. Even though it was a skill so small, he couldn't deny that he was kind of proud of it.

"Hey! Wait up!"

His attention caught by the young voice calling, Dru turned and watched as Edith ran up and climbed the bars with him, very quickly making her way up to his position. Within around seven or eight seconds, she was hanging off the bar just in front of him, looking at her uncle with a proud grin.

"Woah..." Dru gawked, smiling a little back at her. "I deedn't know yoo were good at climbeeng."

"I'm good at lot's of things." The tomboy replied, shrugging before throwing herself across a few other bars, some of which she did one-handed. "Plus, ninjas have gotta be good climbers. Otherwise, they'll get captured and stuff."

"Hah, of course." Dru replied, chuckling a little as he pulled himself upwards and sat on one of the bars. "Now eet makes sense. Can yoo do dis?"

Intrigued, Edith turned and watched as her uncle twisted his way through several bars, going at an almost blurred speed. After a second, he threw himself back down to the floor and rolled comfortably onto his feet, before looking up at the nine-year-old with a challenging smirk.

"Pfft... _easy_." Edith mocked, as she accepted the challenge and launched herself across a multitude of bars. In an attempt to out-do Dru, she added a few unnecessary twists and turns in places, swiftly flowing through the gaps with flair and ease. However, in a momentary lapse of judgment, she lost her grip and fell dangerously towards the floor, making the girl fearfully yell a little.

Thankfully, she fell right above where Dru was standing, and the blonde villain easily caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.

"Woah, woah. Jeez, dat was lucky." Dru replied. For a moment, Edith looked up at him with a small look of gratitude, but upon remembering her failure, frowned and turned her head away in a sulk. "Let's not go crazy weeth de climbeeng. We don't want yoo breakeeng your spine now, do we?"

Huffing, Edith leaped back down to her feet and crossed her arms, staring down at her pink jumper with an irate expression.

"It's just 'cause I'm wearing this. That would _never_ have happened if I had my ninja costume."

Chuckling, Dru shook his head and smiled as he watched the tomboy climb back up and swing across the bars at the same speed as before, seemingly unfazed by the fall. He had to admire her fearless spirit. That courageous attitude she held that he'd always struggled with possessing.

In a way, he sort of envied her...especially with last night's revelation.

Within a moment, his worries came flooding back. Those same ones that possessed his thoughts last night and this morning. They came to him as if it was just on cue. Doubts and questions spun around his head at speed, toying manically with his feelings.

 _What if they don't come back? What if you lose your brother and sister-in-law? What if the girls are orphaned again?_

 _What if your whole life FALLS APART?_

With that thought, Dru shook his head and pushed himself out of that pit, the same darkened, upsetting one that he kept falling into. In an attempt to improve his mentality, the blonde spun and tried locking his eyes onto something, just so he could concentrate on something else.

What use was he to the girls if he was just a nervous wreck? They didn't need to see his stupid upset face when they had their own worries to deal with.

Nope, he _had_ to keep himself happy!

As he continued rotating his line of sight across his surroundings, he caught a glimpse of Agnes nearby, the youngest sister making her way towards the swingset with a giggle. Smiling, he followed and ran in her direction, just as she turned to look up at him with an expression of excitement.

"Can you push me, Uncle Dru?"

" _Sureeee_ theeng, kiddo!" He replied loudly, as he scooped her up and placed her inside the swing. "Now, how do yoo wanna be pushed? Do you want de leetle gurl swing or de _big gurl_ swing?"

Lowering her head in thought for a moment, Agnes scrunched her face up tight, as if she was wracking her brain senseless. It was as if this decision was the most important one of her life, something that Dru couldn't help but giggle a little at.

"BIG girl swing!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down a little.

"Are yoo _surreeee_? Because de big gurl swing ees gonna be _fassstttt_?"

"Uh...well..." She lowered her head again, making that same concentrated expression from before. " _How_ fast is it?"

" _Dis_ fast!" Before the six-year-old could even register what was happening, Dru flung his arms forward and then jumped out of the way, as the swing flew back and forth at speed. An audible waft of wind sounded as it went past, and for a moment, Dru thought he'd maybe overdone it.

But when he heard Agnes's giggle loudly and cheer with elation, he was proved incorrect.

"This is so _AWESOMEEEE_!" She yelled. "I _LOVE_ the big girl swing!"

Chuckling, Dru shared glances between the two younger siblings, the both of them smiling and laughing happily while consumed by their activities. Seeing them happy never ceased to give Dru that elated feeling inside. It was as if their joy was the medicine to all of life's issues.

But, there was still one sibling unaccounted for, and even though he already knew what she'd look like right now, Dru spun and snatched a glance of Margo. She was sitting alone on the bench, her head down low and her back slouched sadly. With that sight, the blonde uncle decided that he'd officially had enough of her dejection.

She shouldn't have to feel like this while her sisters are contented and happy. It simply wasn't fair.

Upon agreeing to the idea of coming to the park, Margo originally thought that it would provide her with a distraction away from the world. Unfortunately, it wasn't panning out that way. When they usually came to the park, her and Gru would always search around for rare flowers in the field, something that he knew was her favorite pass-time activity.

However, without him here, that idea no longer sounded appealing.

She was really trying to be happy right now. To just forget about the situation like her sisters were doing. But for her, the concept of forgetting worries had always been a challenge, ever since she'd lost her biological parents. Maybe it was because she could remember the day so vividly. Since Edith and Agnes were quite young, it appeared that the day when _they_ lost their biological parents had been lost in their heads. But for her, it was a different story.

Because of that, she couldn't help but fear that feeling. That almost unbearable feeling of grief that accompanies losing a loved one. Even when Gru and Lucy simply left for work to complete their usual standard AVL missions, some part of Margo grew fearful.

I guess that's why she always filled up with relief when they came back through the door. It was another day of everything being great.

Another day of having parents...

"Margo?" The twelve-year-old jumped a little and looked up, as her uncle dropped on the bench space beside her. "Are we feeleeng okay?"

"Oh...uh...yeah, I'm fine." She replied, shrugging as her head fell again. "I was just...thinking."

"Hmm, well...how about we do less theenkeeng, and...start haveeng more _fun_!" Margo looked up at him for a moment, her face still solemn and downcast, before dropping her head again with another prolonged sigh. "Come on, Margo. Yoo know de rules of de park. No frowny faces allowed, only super happy joyous _smiles_!"

At this point, just wanting to be left alone for a little while, Margo looked up at him and presented a fake toothy smile, as well as raising her shoulders to add to the authenticity. However, Dru saw right through it, and upon realizing that he really wasn't going to get through to her with words, wrapped his arms tightly around her side.

He held her close for a few seconds, in the hopes of absorbing her pain away, but he knew that this was a situation he simply couldn't solve. He just wasn't skilled enough with consoling to be of any support here.

He really would be a _terrible_ father...

"Hey, Dru!" Edith called, gathering his attention. "Race ya 'round the park!"

"Ooo, yoo're on!" He called back, his smile quickly returning. Excited, he jumped back up onto his feet and was about to dash over to her, but at the last moment, stopped himself and turned back towards Margo. After he'd let go, she squirmed a little and dropped her head for the umpteenth time, staring at her feet sadly.

He couldn't leave her like that. He had to give cheering her up one last go.

"Margo, look..." He began, kneeling down to her level and attracting her attention. "I know dis ees hard to deal weeth and everytheeng ees pretty... _scary_ , right now. But yoo can't be spendeeng de rest of your life worryeeng about de future. Eef theengs _do_ go wrong, den we can all deal weeth eet _together_ when eet happens. But right now, we just have to smile and enjoy yourselves. Otherwise...yoo're gonna regret eet."

Turning away, Margo simply considered his words, understanding fully that he had a point. She _shouldn't_ be sitting here worrying. She _shouldn't_ be all sad and down when everyone else is enjoying the present. She _shouldn't_ allow her fears to hold all control of her actions.

But, unfortunately, while her fears _are_ in control, there wasn't much choice at her disposal.

Reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder, Dru spoke one last time in possibly the softest voice she'd heard him use, one of which kind of reminded her of someone...

"No matter what kiddo, yoo're _not_ gonna be alone. Just...remember dat, okay?"

With that, Dru stood back up and ran over to Edith, who was bouncing on the spot impatiently. Margo watched closely as he raced her tomboy sister, managing to keep up with her blistering pace very well. As they ran past Agnes by the swingset, which had now slowed down to a crawl, he gave her a quick, powerful push and carried on running, as both her sisters giggled happily.

He was a very good uncle. She had to give him that. All three of them were truly lucky to have met Gru, Lucy, and Dru, three people that always seemed to lift their spirits.

What would she do without them all...?

"Hey, Margo!" A voice chirped beside her, startling the twelve-year-old to no-end. "How's it going?"

It was Avery, Margo's best-friend. She would always come to the park with her little brothers, so it was no surprise to see her here. Sure enough, she caught a glimpse of one of her siblings near the swingset, simply gawking at Agnes's super-speedy swinging.

"Oh...uh...yeah, great!" Margo replied, re-equipping that prior fake smile as Avery jumped up on to the bench with her. "How about you?"

"Pretty good." She responded, shrugging. "Just tired from all the homework we got last week. It should be illegal to give out that many math questions."

"Haha...yeah." Margo responded, turning away a little. In truth, she was actually quite happy they were given so much work to do. It sort of helped to take her mind off of stuff.

"So, where's your mom and dad? Don't you usually come with them?"

"They're... _away_." That was probably the best way for Margo to put it. I mean, how else can you say ' _gone on a flight to Portugal to take down one of the biggest and most lethal cults known to man so that they can keep their jobs at an organization that fights villains_ ' in a simple way? "So...our uncle brought us today."

She pointed over to Dru, who was desperately gasping for air as Edith pointed and taunted him with a smile, probably because she'd won the race. It didn't appear Dru had much of a problem with that though, considering how much he was laughing...

"Woah, he looks so much like your dad." Avery marveled, laughing a little. "Except for, y'know...the baldness."

"Yeah...I guess." She replied, shrugging. Edith was now seemingly using Dru as her new set of monkey bars, based on the fact that she was climbing all over him at speed. It appeared his muscles couldn't take much of it, since after a few seconds, the two of them fell to the floor in a fit of giggles. "I mean, they _are_ kinda similar, but...

"...they're just not the same."

* * *

As the designated AVL car came to a stop, Gru and Lucy jumped out into the coarse dirt below, dead leaves crunching underfoot. The cold night air immediately pressed hard against their skin, even though they were donned in their usual thick attire. Considering that Portugal was usually quite a warm country, even at night, it was odd that this forest was so...chilly.

After taking a moment to examine the woodland around them, the couple turned to thank the driver of the vehicle, but before they could even open their mouths, he pressed his foot on the gas and sped away at speed. The distant sound of a car engine and tires screeching emerged after a little while, but within a few seconds, was replaced with total silence.

Obviously, he didn't want to be around here for any longer than required...

"Well...dat's a confidence booster." Gru muttered, giving a small sigh. After sharing a glance with his wife, who anxiously returned it, the former villain spun his head around his surroundings, surveying the scene. They'd been dropped off around 200 meters from The Surto's village, because according to the driver, getting any closer was a very dangerous decision. Apparently, any vehicles that get too close just... _disappear_.

Suffice to say, that driver wasn't very much fun to converse with.

"So...shall we..." Lucy mumbled, trying to catch a glance through the trees, but only being met with blinding darkness. "... _get started_."

"Yes..." Gru replied, stepping forward with a small shiver, either from the cold or his rampant nerves. "Good idea..."

After equipping their night vision goggles, the couple trudged their way through the pitch-black forest, the eerie sound of complete and total silence causing them deep fear. Surely there should at least be wildlife around here, right? Or...a species of insect? Like a cricket or something?

Well, judging on the complete lack of sound, only trees populated this area now...

Eventually, they emerged out of the trees and come face to face with tall, dark fencing, that seemed to expand far into the distance. They moved forward and investigated the scene closely, where they caught sight of the fence gate, accompanied by a little grey speaker. That must be the entrance, and judging on the speakerphone, a password was required to be granted access.

So then...why had the gates been left open?

"I really don't like this, Gru..." Lucy whispered, shaking her head as she came to a stop. "This...I mean...just _none_ of this seems right. Can't we...go back to the hotel and...tell them we failed and just... _go home_. I don't wanna lose the girls over some _stupid_ AVL mission, Gru. I don't wanna lose the girls _at all_. I just wanna...I just wanna-"

"Lucy. Stop eet." Gru stated firmly, grasping onto her shoulders, as she looked up at him with an expression of panic. "We can't give up. We _don't_ give up. We've never given up een de entire time we've been together, and I'll be _darned_ eef we're gonna start now. Dis cult might've killed a bunch of weak agents, but we _aren't_ weak. Yoo know dat. Just...where's dat Lucy dat doesn't take notheeng from nobody and kicks de butt of every bad guy een sight? Because...I _really_ need her right now."

Staring at the floor for a moment, Lucy took in a long breath and calmed herself down, steadying her nerves. After a little while, she nodded and looked back up at her husband, a venomous frown consuming her face.

"You're right." She stated, balling her fists together. "Let's show these guys what we're made of..."

Grinning, Gru returned the nod and punched the air, a sudden surge of adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"Now _dat's_ de spirit."

Pacing quietly through the open gates, the two entered the village, which apart from the extreme lack of light sources, just looked like any old standard village. A myriad of wooden houses surrounded them, with the odd more modernized structure standing in some places, but overall, the entire place was a little overwhelming.

"Where should we start?" Lucy questioned, glancing at her husband.

"I...am not sure. Dis leader guy could be anywhere een dis place." Gru replied, giving a little shrug. After a moment, his eyes caught onto the nearest wooden house, which appeared to be rotting away with dampness. "I guess...we can start dere."

The two crept over to the building and tried opening the door, which pretty much fell of its hinges. The smell that instantly trapped in their noses was enough to make Gru gag out of pure disgust. The air was totally clouded with all forms of flying bugs, and throughout the entire room, maggots were crawling and digging into every piece of furniture.

Bowls containing rotting fruits and vegetables had been left on the tables, and laying on the floor, plates holding molded stains of... _something_ were scattered all around. A picture frame containing a torn-up photo of a family hung loosely on the wall, and placed awkwardly on a nearby chair, was half of a striped shirt.

Whatever happened to the other half, that was undeterminable...

"I'm gonna throw up..." Gru mumbled, holding a hand across his mouth as he turned and left the building quickly. It didn't take long for Lucy to follow him out, not before giving the interior one last thorough search with her gaze.

If this leader guy really was hiding in here, then it would be a wonder how he hadn't rotted away with the place.

They gave a few of the other houses a quick search, but after being met with the exact same disgusting sights, decided that it was no longer worth bothering. Instead, they made their way towards the nearest of two modern buildings, the both of which again held no trace of light.

They opened up the door to the structure, and thankfully, the inside of this building was clean and well taken care of. Tables holding computes were scattered around in places, and even some pieces of healthy-looking unrecognizable plant life were sitting in pots. When compared to the other buildings, it was hard to believe that this belonged to the same village.

Splitting up, the two agents investigated each half of the room, in order to more efficiently examine the place. Gru started by taking a look around at some of the desks, which all held random issues of newspapers and magazines, nothing too strange of note.

All apart for one, which held a large beige-colored folder, laying there as if someone had absentmindedly threw it on there. Curious, Gru made his way over and picked it up, not wasting any time in opening it and examining the contents. Inside was a single piece of A4 paper, which he swiftly removed and read.

 _CASE #1834:_

 _Recruit S-R has informed us of phase 4. Boss has been alerted. Profiles being burned for confidentiality reasons. Once case has been completed, return this folder to the 'Completed' file cabinet. Before then, ensure to keep this document safe and secured._

Totally unsure of what it was referring to or what any of that even meant, Gru shrugged and placed it back down, deciding to just move on and start searching the next nearest desk. Even though the two of them arrived with the intention of possibly gathering answers, they were so far only being provided with a bunch of new questions.

Lucy had started by searching a few desks, just like Gru had been doing, but after her attention was caught by a series of pinned-up notes on the wall, she found more interest in examining those. Unfortunately, a lot of them had been ripped up and torn apart in places, obscuring some of the words and the meaning of them as a whole.

Whether that was intentional or not, who knows...?

Either way, Lucy read as much of them as possible, in the hopes of finding something that could provide more context to where she and Gru even were or why this was happening. She decided to start with the one that actually hadn't been destroyed, since obviously, that one would hold the most clarity.

 _JGIC-09: COMPLETED._  
 _JGIC-11: COMPLETED._  
 _ILE-26: COMPLETED._  
 _BMA-7: COMPLETED._  
 _MWSS43-4: PENDING._

Welp, so much for clarity...

Shaking her head and giving a slight sigh of irritation, Lucy moved onto the other notes, deciding that it wasn't even worth trying to decipher those random set of letters and numbers.

 _ALL OF US, AS ... TREATED EACH ... OUR DIFFERENCES IN GOALS BEING UNKNOWN. BUT, WHEN WE ... AND PUNY, WE CHOSE ... FUTURE OF THE CHILDREN ... STRONGER WILL, WE KILLED ... TO ENSLAVE SOME. NOW ... OURSELVES, THE NEXT PLAN OF ... AND CLAIM THIER ... START WITH JGIC-09. FROM ... WILL EXPAND OUR ... AS POSSIBLE. FOR THE ... WILL BE KNOWN. ... BE FEARED. WILL BE VICTORIOUS._

As she guessed, without every single word, the note made absolutely no sense. She took a few seconds to think about it, to try and fill in the gaps, but it really was an impossible task. Rolling her eyes, she moved onto the next note, giving them one last chance to start making sense.

 _... IS QUITE A ... EXPANSES OF ... RIGHT ACROSS IT. IT TRULY IS A PLACE TO ... QUITE WEAK. I SAY WE ... AS OUR FIFTH._

With that one literally making even less sense than the last, Lucy was finding herself growing more and more frustrated, evident by how tight her fists were scrunched up. She wished something in this stupid place could just provide some form of context. Something that would help give her the answers without the need for useless guessing games. However, it appeared her wish was not going to be fulfilled.

The rest of the notes on the wall, just like the ones she'd read so far, were all a random collection of words.

"Well...dis room ees a bust." Gru mumbled, as he tiredly wandered over to Lucy.

"You can say that again." She replied, turning to her husband. Sighing, she pointed over at the far wall behind them, where a grey door stood there ominously. "Let's see if the others give us more than just a series of stupid little notes."

Nodding, the two traversed through the room and opened it, where they were met with a short corridor. Again, it was totally pitch black, and the only things to occupy it, were six doors of the exact same color. The couple huffed in unison, before sharing tiresome glances.

"Guess we got another guesseeng game."

"Mm-hmm. How fun."

Thankfully, this one didn't last as long as the prior search, since five of the doors were completely locked. When they finally did find the one that opened, the contents of the room behind weren't much to celebrate about. It just looked like a standard office with a desk, some furniture, a few cabinets, and a lone gas canister in the corner.

Wait... _a lone gas canister_?

Sharing perplexed glances, the two hurried over and examined it, a small feeling of hope building up. Maybe this could finally provide some answers. Kneeling down, Gru scanned his gaze across the exterior of the canister, where he was met with a bold label reading 'HALOTHANE VAPOR'.

"Halothane vapor?" Gru read aloud, narrowing his eyes. "Now...where do I recognize dat from?"

However, he didn't have much time to think, since when an odd sizzling sound erupted from it, the couple jumped a little in surprise and took a step backward. Fearful of it exploding, the couple continued to tread further and further away, their eyes locked on the canister closely.

But, when an odd moaning sound came from behind them, they quickly spun and faced the other direction, where they were met with a hunched figure at the door. Not wasting a second, the two of them got into a fighting stance, awaiting the person to lunge or make a move. But, instead, they simply stood there. Continuing to moan, as if they were in pain.

While they stood there, watching the figure closely and attempting to decide upon a plan of action, Gru's face suddenly completely fell, when he realized something very concerning...

"Lucy?"

"Yeah?" She kept her eyes locked on the person at the door, not wanting them out of her sight.

"Uh...I theenk I remember what halothane vapor ees?"

"W-Well...okay, but...is this really the time to be explaining?"

"Uh...well...yeah, 'cause..." At this point, Lucy finally glanced at her husband, and when she saw his drooping eyes and almost comotosed expression, couldn't help but grow extremely concerned. "...I theenk eet's... _knockout gas_."

At that point, as if on cue, his face totally fell and he passed out onto the floor, hitting the wooden ground hard. Before Lucy had the chance to react, she too was consumed by a huge drowsy feeling, and she joined him in collapsing.

The last thing she heard before everything went black was the canister's sizzling abruptly cutting out and the sound of slow, eased footsteps...

* * *

When Lucy finally woke up, her eyes stung from the sudden rays of light surrounding her. At first, she thought someone had a huge flashlight in her face, but when her sight eventually adjusted, she realized it was only a few candles...

...on the other side of the cell bars.

Immediately freaked out, Lucy spun her gaze around the dirty little prison cell she'd been thrown into, and when she noticed her husband wasn't anywhere in sight, jumped up onto her feet out of both shock and fear.

For a few seconds, she was completely unsure of what to do, what with the question of 'where the hell is my husband' spinning around her head. But when her eyes finally caught sight of a guard facing away from her, their backs placed against the walls beside the bars, an instant surge of anger pulsed through her.

"HEY!" She screamed, running over and peaking her head out of the cell. "YOU BETTER LET ME OUTTA HERE, OR I SWEAR TO _GOD_ , I'LL CRUSH EVERY BONE IN YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE BODY!"

They didn't even react. Not even a muscle twitched in his face. That just proved to fuel Lucy's rage.

"DON'T YOU _DARE_ IGNORE ME! YOU _CAN'T_ IGNORE ME! I'LL...I'LL...MAKE YOU REGRET EVEN...EVEN BEING BORN!"

Again, not an ounce of a reaction. It was as if they were completely deaf. Maybe they _were_ deaf. How would she know? There were no stones or rocks on the floor to throw at them, all of her possessions had been taken off of her, and every idea of escape she conjured in her head currently seemed impossible.

Now, she felt the worry return. The worry she'd been trying to hide, to suffocate, as Gru had told her to do.

 _Gru_...

Where was he? Was he okay? Was he in another cell? Had he been hurt?

Had the cult made him... _disappear_?

Feeling the tears catch in her eyes, the AVL agent fell and sat against the wall, holding her head tightly. Now that he wasn't here, her fears were regaining complete control of her thought process. Every single one that passed through her head threw her further and further into a pit of worry, something she'd been struggling to stay out of this entire time.

This couldn't be happening. Please, someone, tell her this wasn't happening. This truly was the end, wasn't it? She'd been trying to tell herself it would be okay, just as Gru had told her on the balcony a few hours ago.

 _"We gotta believe in ourselves! Eef we theenk we're goeeng to die, den we will die."_

Well, it appeared he was right. From the moment they landed in Portugal, Lucy thought they were going to die. When they entered the AVL hotel, she thought they wouldn't be coming home. When they arrived in front of the village's tall fencing, she thought the girls were going to be orphaned...

...and now, those thoughts were going to become a reality.

Now crying hard, Lucy lifted her head and caught a glance through the barred window in the wall, struggling to see through the almost blinding wave of tears. From behind it, she could see a small light coming from the distance. It appeared to be emanating from a nearby building, possibly the modern one that they never had the chance to investigate...

"Where are you, Gru?" She whispered, her voice cracking up. "Just... _where are you_?"

* * *

As Gru's mind regained consciousness and he opened his eyes, he was pretty much forced to close them again when they were met with a blinding light. He shook his head for a few seconds, trying to get out of the intense beam of total white, but eventually, when his eyes built up the resistance to open up without pain, Gru had the chance to examine his surroundings.

He was tied up in what appeared to be a dentist's chair. Right in front of his face was a large spotlight, being manned by a figure in a hood. Surrounding him, three other tattered up people stood there, their expressions looking almost lifeless. With their slacked posture, they reminded him quite a bit of the figure at the door, when he was investigating the room with his wife.

His wife...?

"Wh...where..." Gru stuttered, as he turned his gaze around the derelict room in front of him, spitting his words out venomously at the four people controlling the spotlight. "Where am I? What's goeeng on!? Where ees _my wife_!?"

"She is in safe hands, Felonious. You have no reason to be panicked." An olive-skinned man donned in a white lab-coat strutted into view, giving Gru a coy smirk. The AVL agent narrowed his eyes threateningly at him, in an attempt to scare him into setting him free. He wasn't having much luck. "Now, may I request that you keep your voice down? I don't appreciate how rude you are being."

"I do not _give one_ , yoo idiot!" Gru yelled, thrusting forward in his locked position. "Let me out of dis god-damn chair before I MAKE YOO!"

"Hmm...well, I tried the polite route. Never seems to be an effective measure." The man spoke, grinning as he nodded his head at the four men. "Guess we'll have to silence you with... _different_ methods."

Before Gru could shout out another threat, the hooded figure lunged and stabbed an injection into his arm, immediately sending a spark of great pain up the AVL agent's arm. For a moment, Gru could feel himself freaking out. Complete terror taking over his body. But, soon, it disappeared. And along with it, so did every other possible feeling...

The color in his face fell and the life in his expression completely disappeared. His pupils dilated and his veins faded into a darkened shade of grey.

As every muscle in his body went limp, the man in the white-lab-coat stared on with a grin, a quiet chuckle escaping his voicebox.

"Now... _that_ did the trick."

* * *

 _Well..._

 _I hope you enjoyed._

 _All reviews are seriously appreciated. Will update ASAP._


	4. They're Not Coming Home

_Thanks to all those who reviewed chapter three! Much appreciated :)_

 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter Four:**  
 _ **They're Not Coming Home**_

As they laughed happily over something that didn't particularly matter, Dru and the girls made it back to the front garden of the mansion, three of whom had huge smiles on their faces. Margo was still at odds with her own worries, but for the last ten minutes, was slowly starting to find some slight form of positivity. The amused giggles of her sisters always seemed to make her smile, even in concerning situations.

Sitting on one of the many front steps to the home was the butler Fritz, his attire a little messy and his expression flooded with worry. When he spotted the uncle and his nieces approach the home, he leaped from his spot and ran over to them, clearly in some form of small panic.

"Dru, there you are!" He exclaimed, halting in front of the four. "I flew here the moment I got your message! Is everything alright!?"

"Ah, yes, Fritz. I'm glad yoo made eet!" Dru replied, his face brightening tenfold. "I need yoo to cook up de biggest, fanciest meal yoo've ever cooked een yoo're _whole life_! And could yoo make eet queeck, please? Eet's already getteeng pretty late."

Not expecting this instruction, Fritz glanced at the girls, who replied with beaming smiles, and handed Dru a puzzled expression.

"I...I flew all away from Freedonia to make... _dinner_?"

"YES!" Dru exclaimed, jumping up. "De most _FANCIEST_ deener!"

"B-but..." Fritz replied quietly, unable to hold back his slight frown. "In the message, you said that you were in ' _really big trouble and needed my help urgently_ '."

"We do!" Dru argued, holding his arms out, as if he didn't understand the problem. "We're _starveeng_!" As they gave a small giggle, the blonde uncle glanced down at the girls and watched them for a moment, his bright expression faltering. "Plus...de gurls need sometheeng _super_ special right now, like a really amazing dinner. So... _chop, chop_!"

Dru clapped his hands in a commanding fashion as the four of them energetically dashed past Fritz, who was practically glued to the spot in fatigued annoyance. The butler watched as they ascended the steps and threw themselves into the house, a deepened sigh escaping his lungs.

"Uh...yes, Mister Dru." He ran his hand across his forehead, as if to wipe away the stress. "I'll get right on it."

Continuing to giggle a little, Dru and the girls piled their way into the living room, the youngest not wasting a second in leaping up on to the crocodile couch and bouncing on the spot elatedly.

"Thanks for taking us to the park, Uncle Dru!" She exclaimed, her head lifted happily into the air. "It was _so much_ fun!"

"No problemo, Agnes." The blonde replied, ruffling her ponytail a little, making the little girl stop to giggle a little. "We should go dere more often."

"Ooo, ooo, when mommy and daddy get back, we can _all_ go to the park _together_!" She exclaimed, consuming the room in a huge, beaming smile. "You can show daddy the big girl swing!"

Again, Dru's smile gave away for a short moment, his head dropping slightly.

"Uh...yes, yes! Of course!" He exclaimed, slumping down beside her on the couch, nodding as a method of keeping his bright expression alive. "Dat's a... _great_ idea!"

As she sat there, continuing to beam a super toothy grin, Dru couldn't help but question how she was remaining so upbeat. Maybe spending some time with him at the park helped her to completely forget what was going on, to the point where she was now completely expecting Gru and Lucy to return without fail. He had to admit, he was very proud of her resilience...

...even though she could quite possibly be reminded of yesterday's news in the worst possible way.

Thankfully, he didn't have too long to dwell on that thought, since Edith ran over and threw herself onto the couch as if she was some sort of professional athlete, going for the world-record in the long-jump event.

"Can we watch a movie?" She questioned, lifting her hat from over eyes, which must've drooped after she landed so heavily.

"Sure we can." Dru answered, nodding. "What do you fancy?"

Edith turned her head away, wracking her brain at speed. "I dunno. Something _cool_ , with action and fighting and stuff in it."

Chuckling a little at her very broad decision, Dru looked over at the big shelf in the room, where all of the DVDs and boxsets were stored. As he scanned it quickly in search of a desired movie, he caught a large glance of Margo, who was stood off to the side staring at her feet with a solemn expression. Keeping his eyes on her for a few seconds, a slight smile spread across his face, as he came to an idea.

"Well, actually, how about we let Margo pick de movie?" He proposed, turning back to Edith, who immediately seemed unsatisfied. At the mention of her name, the twelve-year-old looked up and stared at her uncle, who returned a bright expression.

"Aww, no fair!" Edith sulked, crossing her arms in protest. "It was _my_ idea! Why does _she_ get to choose!?"

"'Cause she's had a bit of a hard day." Dru replied, giving the tomboy a smile, something that didn't aid in swaying her frown in the slightest. Retaining his happy look, he turned back to Margo and nodded his head towards the shelf, making the eldest glance at it for a moment. "Well...go on den. Pick sometheeng."

A grin rising from her face for a moment, Margo strolled over to the shelf and started flicking through the DVDs, not in search of any specific movie in particular. More so, she was waiting until she found one that caught her fancy. Soon enough, she reached and pulled out the case for one called 'Story Of The Dance', before revealing it to the rest of the family.

Based on Edith's instant frown-based reaction, she wasn't a big fan of the glittery, extremely girly design of the front cover.

"I used to watch this all the time when I was really little..." The eldest sister explained, her eyes locked onto the case in her hand. "Before I was put in the orphanage."

With that, Dru watched with slight unease as she continued to glare at the DVD, seeming consumed by her own thoughts. He had totally run out of consoling methods at this point. He'd used them all in the park earlier and none of them appeared to have much of an effect. So, at this point, the only plan of action he had left was to just put the movie on and hope it made her feel better.

"Well, what are yoo waiteeng for?" He questioned with a cheer, stealing her gaze back from the cover. "Put eet een."

Finally giving him a full genuine smile, Margo paced over to the DVD player and inserted the disc, as Dru grabbed the remote and switched on the TV. When the interactive menu displayed on the screen, which was littered with flowers and dancers and glittery things, Edith couldn't help but audibly groan.

"This is gonna _suck_."

* * *

Finally, she'd managed to suppress her crying. Thirty minutes prior, Lucy was practically inconsolable, but after letting out all of the fear that had built up throughout the day in the form of tears, she was now feeling a little more determined and concentrated.

Only a _little_ more, though. Again, this situation seemed absolutely hopeless. How on earth was she going to escape this cell, find her husband, and then get out of this god-forsaken village without injury or execution? She truly didn't have a clue.

However, _'not having a clue'_ had never stopped her before, so why would it now?

Currently, the female AVL agent was sat against the cold, wall of the prison, her head down in thought. She overviewed everything. How she got here, what happened, how it all went wrong. She analyzed every event in search of something that stood out. Unfortunately, all of it seemed clouded in this blinding sense of disturbing mystery.

In all her AVL years, never before had she come across a situation as confusing as this one. It appeared they weren't a big fan of context around here, since absolutely _everything_ held that same air of obscurity. Like those notes pinned up on the wall. Even if the words that were missing were actually there, Lucy still didn't believe they would've provided much help.

Sighing deeply, she rubbed her tired, red eyes and dropped her head further, her thoughts pausing for a few seconds. She desperately needed Gru right now. When the two of them were together, absolutely nothing could stop them. They had the ability to do anything, the strength to stop anyone, and the intelligence to break their way out of every hopeless situation.

However, when one of them were taken out of the equation, fear always had a detrimental effect on those traits.

Where could he be right now? Was he okay? Was he hurt? She wanted the answers, but at the same time, dreaded hearing the wrong ones. In all honesty, she just wanted him here. She didn't even mind if it meant being trapped in a prison cell, she really just wanted him beside her. To comfort to her, to tell her that things will be okay, like he always did. He was practically a professional at that.

Feeling herself grow upset again, Lucy turned her head to look down at her arm, specifically at the red and blue, jeweled bracelet that Gru gave her for her birthday. Though originally she wasn't too keen on its large size, she realized that it didn't particularly matter what the present was, rather who it was given by. Besides, though the enormity of it was certainly a little weird, she actually found it quite charming.

Although, after questioning him on it one day, he confessed that he had Dr. Nefario make it for her, so he could ensure that it was, in his words, ' _as perfect as her_ '. Apparently, the scientist had a strange habit of making his inventions unusually large, mostly to fit the wiring for the extra features that he was insistent on including.

Wait...

 _Extra features?_

Her eyes widening with abrupt hope, Lucy lifted her arm to her face and closely inspected the bracelet, searching for anything that could indicate something unusual. A button? A screen? Some antennae? Anything that could provide some form of electronic function. Unfortunately, it seemed irritatingly normal. Nothing on there but a string and some jewels.

But, Lucy reminded herself, normal wasn't something Nefario preferred, so this truly couldn't be the case. As they always say, never judge a book by its cover.

Or in this case, don't judge a possible butt-kicking device by the fact that its a bracelet...

Giving the item a deep inspection, the AVL agent lightly tapped upon one of the jewels, in the hopes of it activating something. When nothing happened, she decided to go around and tap every single one, just in case there was a specific jewel that held the extra feature.

And, after going around and tapping them all, a small beep sounded from the band and the jewels started to flash a series of different colors. It appeared, to avoid accidental activation, you needed to tap every single one in succession to grant access to the hidden function.

Lucy couldn't help but grin.

"Nefario, you genius." She muttered quietly, ensuring that the nearby guard didn't hear her. "Now, what does this thing do?"

She awaited something to happen. Like the barrel of a gun or a hidden taser to emerge from the band. But, when nothing but flashing continued for around twenty seconds, the AVL agent grew concerned. This must do something, right? There was no way this was just an aesthetic feature. It simply _must_ have some sort of safety or defensive purpose.

She gave it a shake. Nothing. She tapped the flashing jewels again. Nothing. She whispered a demand into it.

" _Hey_. You can start doing secret stuff now."

 _Nothing._

When two minutes passed and still absolutely _zilch_ had happened, she unwillingly realized that maybe she was wrong. Maybe it _was_ just an aesthetic feature. If it truly did do something, then why would the scientist make it so insanely obscure? There would be no point. Truly, it appeared that this was only here to make it a little more unique.

Though a part of her appreciated the gesture of putting these flashing colors on her otherwise standard bracelet just for her, another part of her grew a little irate with its pointless nature.

"Nefario, you idiot."

* * *

Dr. Nefario was very bored.

Right now, Dru was too busy looking after the girls to be bothered with any acts of villainy, Gru was too busy fighting Portuguese cults to be bothered with any weapon designing, and all of the minions were too busy rectifying a recent lab explosion to help in... _whatever_ they helped him with.

The little yellow creatures insisted that the explosion wasn't their fault, but for reasons that were pretty self-explanatory, Nefario had a hard time believing them.

So, to avoid going absolutely insane with boredom, he was currently sat at his lab table, tinkering with the same vial of light blue liquid that Edith asked to drink on her first visit down here. Nefario had warned the little girl that it would make her explode, and though the serum did hold such an ability, she probably would've fine been if she did in fact drink it. At the moment, it becomes completely useless when it mixes with digestive acid, or any other form of _liquid_ for that matter.

So now, he was trying to find methods to make it work. To make it durable against anything it came in contact with. To make it explode without any complications.

Why was that necessary? He didn't particularly know.

However, with all these hours with nothing to do, he was actually pretty close to cracking this seemingly pointless code. Looking back, it was a stroke of luck that it hadn't actually worked before. Considering Edith's rebellious personality, she probably wouldn't have abided by his warning for too long.

After carefully adding another dose of the purple liquid with a very long name, a deafeningly loud alarm started going off around the lab, nearly giving the elderly man a heart attack. Almost dropping the vial, he stuttered in shock and spun around in his seat, unsure for a moment of what was actually happening.

But, when it clicked, he immediately jumped from his seat and muttered a series of obscenities under his breath. He definitely wasn't expecting _this_ right now.

Moving as fast as his decrepit legs could manage, he made his way over to the lab's supercomputer, and sure enough, a huge alert sign was periodically flashing on-screen. He dashed over and jabbed his finger at a few buttons, and when a text box detailing a list of seemingly random numbers appeared on screen, the alarm went silent. He typed these numbers into another satellite program, and when it zoned in on the location, his heart almost stopped dead.

Ensuring to take a note of this, Nefario spun and took off out of the room, plodding back to his lab desk...

* * *

They were now around three-quarters of the way through the movie, and though he originally doubted he would, Dru was gradually starting to enjoy it. The extremely girly tendencies it obviously had wasn't bothering him too much, even though he found it a little wince-worthy at times. However, the same couldn't be said for Edith, who was leaned so far back in her seat out of boredom, that it was a wonder that she hadn't sunken into the couch.

On the other hand, Margo was absolutely loving it.

Finally, for the first time since she'd been informed of this stupid Portuguese cult mission, she was feeling relaxed. It was like some sort of weight had been lifted. Like sitting here next to her uncle and her sisters watching a movie that she hadn't seen since she was a very young child was the medicine she was looking for.

She couldn't really explain it, but at this moment in time, she truly didn't care.

That was up until the screen suddenly went a little haywire and the movie cut off, transitioning both the television and the room into a short period of silence. The four of them glanced at each other in befuddlement, but before anyone could voice the obvious question in the air, Dr. Nefario appeared on the screen.

"DRU! I really need to spe-" Once he spotted the owlish glares of the three resident girls, the scientist held back his very frantic expression and immediately transitioned to a state of fake nonchalance, speaking with an eerily slow tone. "Uh...D-Dru, could...could we have a s-small chat i-in the lab? I am...I am in need of some... _help_."

" _Help_?" Dru questioned, rolling his eyes and sighing after a moment's thought. "Nefario, we discussed dis. I am lookeeng after de gurls and I do not have time for villainy hijinks and de such. All of dat will have to wai-"

"No, no, t-this isn't anything to do...with villainy." Nefario was constantly shooting glances at the three sisters, as if he was checking that they didn't seem scared or concerned. Margo was picking up on this, and hence, was returning narrow-eyed glares. "It's something very...very _important_."

"Okay, well...what ees eet den?"

"I...I am not able to talk about this through the TV. C-Come down to the lab so we can have a... _private discussion_."

Not used to seeing Nefario in such a worried and delicate state, Dru's face fell a little, knowing this must truly be important if it had shook up the scientist this way. Part of him wished that this was just a more pessimistic side of his thoughts sparking unneeded panic, but whether or not that was true, he reasoned it was probably best to just see what the elderly man wanted and get the answers.

"Uh...s-sure." He replied, glancing at the girls for a moment, who returned light frowns. "I'll be down now."

With that, the screen quickly cut to black and the room was once again plunged into silence. Only this time, no on-screen content was to interrupt it. Sighing deeply, Dru rose from his seat and ushered the girls towards the living room door, as they returned solemn and interrogating gazes.

"Come on den, gurls, I'm goeeng to need de elevator." He stated, as the three stood and unwillingly followed him out of the room. "Play weeth Fritz een de keetchen for a leetle while, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can."

"W-Wait, what's going on?" Margo questioned.

"Do not ask me! I do not have a _clue_." Dru answered, as they approached the kitchen, where Fritz was frantically throwing things in saucepans and frying pans in the hopes of making something that appeared fancy. He'd enlisted the help of two minions that he strolled past, but after about four minutes, he was already regretting his decision. Somehow, instead of simplifying the process, they were making things a lot more difficult. "He probably just needs some help weeth de lab repairs...or sometheeng like dat."

Entirely unconvinced, the eldest shot Dru a small frown as he carefully directed the three sisters into the room, which held a concoction of different pleasant smells. As they arrived, Fritz shot the blonde a drained look, as if to plead for mercy. Unfortunately, he was here to provide the exact opposite.

"Fritz, could yoo look after de gurls for a leetle while? I've got some stuff I need to deal weeth."

"W-wait, I-"

"Thank yoo!"

Dru didn't waste a single second and sprinted out of the room before Fritz could coherently argue with him. He made his way back to the living room to activate the lab elevator, while Margo, Edith, and Agnes watched in befuddlement. Once he disappeared, they turned to each other with the same expression.

"What was that about?" Edith questioned.

"I don't know." Margo replied, her gaze turning to the floor. "But...something doesn't seem right."

Proceeding that, the three sisters stood there in silence, their gazes locked in place as they consumed themselves in thought. After a few seconds without a word, Edith shrugged and turned towards the booth sofa, deciding to instead search for a source of entertainment. It didn't take too long for Agnes to follow her.

"Fritz?" The youngest asked, gathering the irritated butler's attention away from the oven.

"Yes, Agnes."

"Why are you called _Fritz_?"

The man seemed slightly taken aback by the question, simply because he had no idea at first on how to respond.

"W-Well, b-because...because that's my na-"

"Why did you become a butler?"

"Uh...b-because my father had originally worked for-"

"What was your daddy's name? Was _he_ called Fritz as well?"

"N-No, my father was c-called-"

"Why do you work for my uncle?" Fritz couldn't hold back the aggravated frown anymore, even if he really wanted to.

"Okay, _which_ question would you like to me answ-"

Unexpectedly, a huge crashing sound interrupted him and a litter of saucepans clashed against the floor, one of which fell directly onto his foot. The butler yelped and jumped around in pain for a few seconds, before darting his accusing gaze at his assigned minions, who both turned away and whistled with pretend innocence.

The very fact that they were standing on the counter, right where the load of saucepans just were, was proof enough that they were guilty.

Sighing heavily, Fritz practically fell onto the kitchen counter in a fatigued heap, closing his eyes tightly to enjoy some time in the darkness.

"Ugh...I _really_ need a new job."

Ignoring the commotion going on around her, Margo continued to stand there, her head still sealed deep in thought. She simply couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. Nefario _rarely_ looked that concerned, and whenever he did, it meant something very bad was happening.

For example, like that time when he contacted the TV from El Macho's mansion, to inform Gru of Lucy's kidnapping. Then, he looked down-right fearful, both because he knew he'd made a significant mistake, _and_ because he knew his family's life was in danger.

Fast-forward to the present, where her parents had just left for a life-threatening mission, and that down-right fear had made an unwanted return...

Balling her fists, Margo strutted forward and made her way out into the hallway, a determined frown populating her expression. She was sick and tired of being so clueless now. Since the very beginning, she didn't know what was going to happen, when it was going to happen, and whether or not these _happenings_ would ruin her life.

Well, _now_ , she was going to get the answers.

"Margo!?" Edith called, suddenly appearing at her older sister's side at pace, Agnes following on a little ways behind her. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere." She replied firmly. "Stay here you two. I'll be back now."

"Nuh-uh." Edith stated, moving to block her older sister's path, her arms crossed defensively. She eyed the twelve-year-old a moment, analyzing her angered expression. She'd known Margo for most of her life, and in that time, she'd learned to recognize certain traits about her. For example, when she was curious about something and wanted to disobey certain rules to grasp an understanding, she wasn't too hesitant in doing so. "You're following Dru down to the lab, aren't you?"

Seeming a little surprised that the tomboy figured that out so effortlessly, Margo shot Agnes a slightly concerned glance out of the corner of her eye, before sighing and directing her glare back to the nine-year-old.

"Nefario _never_ looks that shook-up, Edith." She explained, shaking her head. "I just wanna know what's wrong and then I'm coming straight back."

"Not without _us_ , you aren't." The tomboy demanded, raising her head as if to challenge her to refuse. At this moment, Agnes ran over and stood right beside the middle-child, a determined expression dominating her face as well.

"Yeah! _We're_ coming too!"

Watching her two younger siblings for a short while, Margo narrowed her eyes and considered her options closely. She knew how irritatingly stubborn Edith was when instructed not to do something, so telling her to stay upstairs seemed like an impossible option at this point. As well as that, Agnes wouldn't feel comfortable staying up here on her own, so she would've eventually followed her older sister to the lab.

Besides, if something _had_ gone wrong and Margo was to find out on her own, then hiding it from her little sisters _also_ seemed like an impossible option. She truly wasn't resilient enough to keep up _that_ kind of brave-face.

"Fine..." The eldest gave in. Edith and Agnes both grinned. "But, I'm just warning you...if the three of us go down there, we might find out something that... _we won't like_."

Those prior grins soon evaporated.

"What do you mean?" The littlest asked.

Margo opened her mouth to respond, but upon spying the slightly concerned looks on her little sisters' face, she decided against answering that question honestly. The two girls had only recently gotten themselves out of that pit of worry by going to the park with Dru, so just in case her nerves were acting up erroneously, there was no need to put them back there.

"N-Nothing." Margo replied, shaking it off and pacing her way towards the living room door, her little sisters glaring at her puzzlingly. "Come on. Let's go, then."

Just as they started following the twelve-year-old down the hallway, Fritz lifted his head again and spotted them disappearing out of the room, making another reason to huff present itself.

"Hey!" He called lightly, moving from behind the counter, attracting their attention. "Please stay here, would you? I need to keep an eye on- _OW_! OW, OW, _OW_! _WHAT_ are you doing!?"

The two minions started aggressively kicking at Fritz's shins and uproariously laughing, and in an attempt to avoid them, the man was spinning around in circles and jumping all around the room. Too busy with trying to dodge the attacks, he never noticed the 'Kick Me' sign that had been taped to his back, written in red marker.

"Wha... _wait_." Margo began, turning to Edith, who was watching the scene and giggling. " _When_ did you put that there?"

The tomboy shrugged nonchalantly, an evil smile lingering on her face.

"I've got my ways."

* * *

After practically leaping out of the elevator, Dru paced his way through the underground laboratory at a slight speed, heading for Nefario's desk. However, to the blonde's minor surprise, the scientist wasn't anywhere to be seen. He surely couldn't have gone far. They'd only had their TV conversation a mere two minutes ago.

He spun his gaze around his surroundings in search of him, but sure enough, he wasn't anywhere. Why on earth would he just disappear like that? Maybe, Dru hoped, this was a sign that things were actually okay. If they weren't, surely Nefario wouldn't have moved at all...

Right? Or was he just telling himself this? God, he _really_ didn't know anymore.

Shaking away his fatiguing thoughts, Dru reasoned that his only option left was to find one of the minions and ask where he was, in the hopes of receiving an understandable response. He'd gotten pretty good at perceiving Minionese now. But, there were still occasions where he would be left confused by their gibberish.

"Mel!" Dru called, attracting the creature's attention away from one of the explosion marks in the wall, which he had been pretending to repair. "Where ees Dr. Nefario?"

"Ooo! Boomba dee." Mel replied, pointing through one of the hallways towards the vehicle maintenance room. Responding only with a nod, Dru turned and ran towards the aforementioned location at such a speed, that he didn't even hear the elevator ascend towards the house again...

Sure enough, inside the expansive repair room was Nefario, trudging his way around Gru's stationed airship in an inspective manner. When Dru spotted him, he didn't waste a second in sprinting in his direction.

"Nefario!" He yelled, almost instantly making the scientist spin to face him. "What ees goeeng o-"

"Quick! Come with me." He interrupted authoritatively, ushering the blonde villain towards a nearby table. It was bare apart from a single piece of paper, which held a series of seemingly random numbers and snippets of information upon it. "Something bad has happened."

"What? Sometheeng bad's happened? What ees eet!?" Dru continued to ask more questions, not giving Nefario any chance to answer them. "Ees eet really bad!? Ees someone hurt? Deed one of de minions get injured!? Has-"

"I don't _know_ what's happened! All I know is that it's _bad_!" Nefario exclaimed in response, as he slumped down near a computer and began typing on the keyboard, seeming quite concentrated. Dru stared at him blankly, now utterly lost.

"Wh...I...yoo...Nefario, _what_ are yoo talkeeng about!?"

"Lucy's emergency danger alarm has been activated!" He exclaimed, not taking his eyes off the screen. The blonde's face instantly dropped like a pebble in a well. "I tracked the location of the alert and the distress signal is indeed coming from _Portugal_! They must be in trouble."

"W-what...what _danger alarm_!? Lucy has a danger alarm?"

"You _all_ do! I installed hidden distress alarms into all of your clothing or jewelry so that you can signal for help at any time. I've told you that a _million_ times!" Nefario exclaimed. However, after announcing that fact out loud, he suddenly came to a concerning realization, and he turned to face Dru with an odd look. "Wait. Have I told you about that?"

"No!" Dru exclaimed, becoming immediately panicked. "Not _once_!"

"Oh. Well... _you do_."

Though a part of him was actually quite interested to know where _his_ hidden distress alarm was located, the more concerning section of this conversation was taking center-stage in Dru's mind.

"Okay, okay! Hold up!" He put his hands in front of his face and shook his head, as if to pause the entire world for a second. "Lucy ees een _distress_!? Nefario, why deedn't yoo just say dat over de TV!? She could already be hurt!"

"Because, after what happened with El Macho, I promised Gru that if anything bad was happening to either him or Lucy during a mission, then I wasn't allowed to break the news to the girls." He explained, now turning back to the computer to continue whatever task he was undergoing. "He didn't want them to know until it was conclusive that... _they're not coming home_."

Dru cringed.

"Oh, god! What de hell could've happened!? What eef dey've been keednapped!? What eef dey're hurt!? What eef dey're...what eef dey're _DEAD_!?"

"Right, Dru, _calm down_." Nefario stated as he turned back in the blonde's direction, talking extremely direct. "They're gonna be fine and no-one is gonna get killed, okay?.

"How could yoo know dat!? Yoo don't know dat! Nobody knows dat!"

"Yes, I do _know_ that." Nefario replied softly, trying to alleviate the blonde's frantic reaction. "Do you wanna know how?"

"H-How?"

"Because..." The elderly man began, pointing over to Gru's airship. Dru turned and investigated it momentarily with his gaze, his eyes still wide and frightened. " _You're_ gonna save them."

"Wh...me...I..." The blonde man quickly switched his apprehensive glare between Nefario and the airship, taken slightly aback. "But... _how_!?"

Nefario reached over and grabbed the paper from the table, immediately shoving it into Dru's grasp.

"This lists the co-ordinates that Lucy's distress signal was located from." He stated, as his villain accomplice fearfully glared down at it. "The airship's computer system can log these and create a waypoint to that location on the radar system. Go there and save Gru and Lucy's butts, before it's too late."

For a good five seconds, Dru kept himself frozen in place, the ability to move seemingly erased. His glare continued to zone-in on the piece of paper in his hand, more specifically at the series of numbers that were written on it. For whatever reason, it felt like they were glaring right back.

How could _he_ possibly save Gru and Lucy? If this cult were too much for _them_ , then how could _he_ ever expect to do any better? As well as that, he'd already promised his brother that he would stay and ensure the girls were not placed back into an orphanage. If he _was_ to leave and _also_ never return, then who else was capable of taking them in?

Although, he just couldn't leave his brother and sister-in-law to die. He'd doubted himself when Balthazar Bratt attacked Hollywood, but as history shows, _he_ saved the day. _He_ saved his brother's life when he was in desperate need of help. And now, it appeared he needed it again. In fact, giving it a second thought, he deduced that there was absolutely no reason to fear the girls being orphaned again...

...because he _WAS_ coming home. _WITH_ Gru and Lucy.

His mouth twisting with vengeful rage, Dru balled his fists and nodded at the scientist, almost shivering with the determination racing through his veins.

" _Got eet_."

Nefario returned the nod with a grin, actually admiring the blonde's demonstration of courage.

"Well done, lad." He stated simply, before motioning for him to follow him. "Come on. Let's get you weaponed up."

Dru trudged on behind the scientist, that almost stone-cold expression not fading in the slightest.

" _Good idea_."

As the two traversed the large room to get to the armory section of the lab, Margo, Edith, and Agnes stood in the entrance, watching them disappear with almost mortified expressions. As the eldest had warned, coming down here to eavesdrop had a chance of revealing some news that they may have not liked.

After listening in on most of that conversation, it turned out she wasn't wrong.

"Margo?" Agnes's voice spoke softly. "Are mom and dad really gonna... _die_?"

Both her and Edith expected their older sister to instantly respond. To extinguish their doubts and worries with a reassuring comment, as she always did when things weren't looking up. But, when she kept herself silent for a concerning amount of time, their doubts and worries were evolving at a rapid pace.

"Margo?" Edith spoke up, her voice uncharacteristically very high. "Ar... _are they_?"

The twelve-year-old didn't know what to say, nor how to say it. Should she lie to them? To do what Dru had been effectively doing this whole time? Her older sister instincts told her to do so. She'd been doing that ever since they met each other in the orphanage, as a method of keeping them happy and optimistic, so why would she change tactics now?

Well, possibly because the inevitable was bound to happen anyway. She would simply be prolonging the news that was eventually going to distraught them. Besides, if she told them a lie that their parents were totally fine and didn't require the slightest bit of help...

...then how would she explain the sudden trip to Portugal via airship?

"Possibly," She replied bluntly, pushing herself forward into the room. "But _we're_ not gonna let that happen."

Edith and Agnes watched with significant dread as their older sister approached their father's airship, her stride so fierce that they could've easily mistaken her for a super-villain. Once she made it to the flying vehicle, the girl leaned forward and slammed her palm onto the button beside the door, making it open up like some form of spaceship.

"Woah, woah!" Edith exclaimed suddenly, as she and Agnes sprinted over to her sister at a blistering pace, attempting to stop her. The middle-child grabbed her by the shoulder as she went to take a step forward, holding her in place. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm going to save our parents, Edith! I'm _not_ gonna let them die!"

"Are you insane!?" The nine-year-old yelled, looking at her sister as if she'd transformed into a mythical creature. "We can't go to Portugal! It's like... _a million miles_ away!"

Margo's frown grew tenfold.

"Well, would you rather go to Portgual...?" She began, glaring down at the two with atypical aggression. "Or _back to the orphanage_!?"

After the bespectacled girl yelled that clearly loaded question, Agnes tensed up in fright and swiftly grabbed a hold of Edith's hand, trying to instantly find some form of reassurance. Momentarily surprised, the tomboy turned and gazed down at her little sister questioningly, who returned an almost pleading expression. Truth be told, the sight of her little sister looking so frightened was sincerely upsetting her.

She looked absolutely _terrified_ , and right now, Edith could relate.

Tightly squeezing the six-year-old's hand comfortingly, the middle-child nodded slightly and turned back to Margo, who now seemed a little calmer.

"Let's go."

Margo didn't have much time to respond, because at that point, the distant of sound Dru's voice thanking Nefario crept closer, indicating that he was returning to the room. Her eyes widening in trepidation, she threw herself forward and yanked Edith and Agnes into the airship, making the two yelp a little in surprise. Once inside, she scanned the small interior, trying to find a decent hiding spot.

"Quick," She directed quietly, ushering them towards the small booth table. "Underneath this."

Edith and Agnes followed her sister's command and hid underneath the small piece of furniture, just in time for the three to sneakily watch their uncle board the ship and angrily climb his way up into the cockpit, where he quickly grabbed a firm hold of the control wheel.

Right before he opened the lab's hatch and took flight to Portugal, his eyes caught onto a small printed-out photo of the whole family, which Gru must've placed beside the controls a little while ago. Maybe he'd accidentally left it here. Maybe he'd put it there as a nice aesthetic choice. Or, and this one was the most probable explanation, maybe he'd put it there as a constant reminder of the great people in his life.

He had to give him credit, Dru was now sincerely appreciating that idea.

"I've said eet before, and I'll say eet again..." He muttered to himself, his teeth gritted together.

" _Nobody_ messes weeth my brother."

* * *

 _And there we go! Hope this was worth the wait!_

 _Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. I've been pretty busy with some stuff and the time I've had to spend on fics is pretty low at the minute. I'll try my best to get the next one out real soon!_

 _Thank you if you chose to review! It's sincerely appreciated :)_


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